LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 



IlWETH, EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA 



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LIFE STORIES FOR TOUNG PEOPLE 



ELIZABETH 

EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA AND QUEEN OF 

HUNGARY 



LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 

Translated from the German by 
GEORGE P. UPTON 



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Tj" LIZ A BETH as the 
■'—^ young Empress 



Life Stories for Toung People 



ELIZABETH 

EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA AND QUEEN 
OF HUNGARY 

Translated from the German of 
Carl Kiichler 

BY 

GEORGE P. UPTON 

Translator of ^^ Memories^^^ *^ Immenseey^^ etc. 

WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO, 

1909 






Copyright 

A. C. McClurg & Co. 

1909 

Published August 21, 1909 



fCI. A 24 4*832 
AUar1?5:i909 




THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 



Exnns»lnttiv'^ l^vttntt 



l/^ I — >^HE story of the life of Elizabeth of 
Bavaria, Empress of Austria and Queen 
of Hungary, is one of the saddest in the 
"^~^ history of royalty, and in some respects 
recalls the story of the life of Marie Antoinette. 
Both their lives were sorrowful, both ended tragic- 
ally, the one at the hands of an assassin, the other 
upon the guillotine. Elizabeth will not be remem- 
bered in history as a sovereign, for everything 
connected with the throne and with court life was 
distasteful to her, but rather as the beautiful, sorrow- 
ful daughter of the Wittelsbachs. She was not only 
one of the most beautiful women of her time, but an 
accomplished scholar and linguist, a good musician, 
and well versed in history, science, and art. She 
was a passionate lover of the woods and mountains, 
and was happiest when she was walking or riding 
among them, or associating with the Hungarian 
people. She was no more at home with the Viennese 

[V] 



^ TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE m 

than was Marie Antoinette with the Parisians. Her 
domestic life was saddened by estrangement from 
her husband, by lack of sympathy among her rela- 
tives, by the terrible tragedy which ended the life 
of her son, Prince Rudolph, and by other tragedies 
which involved the happiness and sometimes the 
lives of those nearest to her. At last her sufferings 
were ended by the dagger of a cruel anarchist assassin. 
As the author of this volume says : " She died as 
she had often wished to die, swiftly and painlessly 
and under the open sky. Who can say that her 
last breath was not a sigh of thankfulness and 
peace r : 

G. P. U. 

Chicago, May lo, 1909. 



[vi] 



€onttnt^ 



Chapter Pagb 

I The Diamond Wedding ii 

II Birth and Childhood of Elizabeth of Bavaria 19 

III Betrothal of Princess Elizabeth 25 

IV The Wedding Ceremonies 32 

V First Troubles 40 

VI Travels and Sorrows 46 

VII Birth of Crown Prince Rudolf 53 

VIII Elizabeth's Illness and Sojourn in Madeira . 58 

IX The Empress' Flight from Vienna .... 63 

X The Coronation in Hungary 67 

XI The Archduchess Marie Valerie 72 

XII The Castle of Godollo 77 

XIII The Empress in Vienna 83 

XIV Marriage of Crown Prince Rudolf . . . ". 88 

XV King Ludwig Second of Bavaria 96 

[vii] 



CONTENTS S 



Chapter Pagb 

XVI The Empress' Travels loi 

XVII The Empress* Literary Tastes no 

XVIII Daily Life of the Empress 114 

XIX Death of Crown Prince Rudolf . . , . 119 

XX Death of the Empress 128 

Appendix 139 



[viii] 



Mlu^txntiaix^ 



Elizabeth as the young Empress . . Frontispiece 

Emperor Franz Joseph in his twenty-eighth 

year 34 

Crown Prince Rudolf 90 

Empress Elizabeth in later years . . . . 122 



[ix] 








Chapter I 
The Diamond Wedding 




N the ninth of September, 1888, an un- 
usual event occurred in the princely house 
of Wittelsbach. Maximilian Joseph, the 
head of the ducal line of Vorpfalz-Zwei- 
briicken-Birkenfeld, and his wife Ludovica (Louise), 
daughter of King Maximilian First of Bavaria and 
his second wife, Caroline of Baden, celebrated on 
that day their diamond wedding, both bride and 
groom having been barely twenty years old at the 
time of their marriage. 

Few princely couples have been closely connected 
with so many of the reigning families of Europe. 
Their eldest son, Ludwig Wilhelm, renounced the 
succession to wed an actress, Henrietta Mendel, 
who had received the title of Countess Wallersee. 

[■■] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

Helene, the eldest daughter, married the Heredi- 
tary Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and their daughter 
Louise, by her alliance with Frederick of Hohen- 
zoUern, formed new ties between the Wittelsbachs 
and the royal house of Prussia. The next daughter 
was Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary, whose son in 
his turn took for his bride the King of Belgium's 
daughter, Stephanie. After Elizabeth, in the family, 
came Karl Theodore, well known as an oculist, and, 
on his father's death, the head of the ducal line of 
Wittelsbach. He first married his cousin Sophie, 
daughter of King John of Saxony ; the second and 
present wife is Marie Josepha, Princess of Portugal. 
Two other daughters, Marie and Mathilde, allied 
themselves with the younger branch of the Bour- 
bons. Marie became the wife of King Francis 
Second of Naples and Mathilde married his half- 
brother. Count Louis of Trani. The youngest 
daughter, Sophie, was betrothed at one time to her 
cousin. King Ludwig Second of Bavaria, but after- 
wards married Duke Ferdinand d'Alen^on, nephew 
of Louis Philippe of France, while the youngest son. 
Max Emanuel, married Amelie of Saxe-Coburg and 
Gotha, thereby becoming connected by marriage 
with Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. 

The Wittelsbachs have always been eccentric. 
Mental disorders have been common with them, 
and during the last century between twenty and 

[12] 



J8 THE DIAMOND WEDDING 8S 

thirty members of the family have died insane. 
Yet in spite of their peculiarities and eccentricities 
they have always been exceedingly popular with 
their subjects, as much for their personal charm as 
for their devotion to the happiness and welfare of 
their people. The annals of Bavaria have little to 
record of treason or conspiracy against the princes 
of the land, but tell much of the loyalty and sacri- 
fices of life and property on the part of the people. 

Duke Maximilian Joseph was born at Bamberg, 
December 4, 1808. He was the son of the weak- 
minded Duke Pius Augustus of Bavaria and his 
wife, Amelie Louise, Princess of Arenberg. " The 
good Duke Max," as he was called by the people, 
was the only direct descendant of his grandfather, 
while his wife, on the other hand, was the youngest 
of a large family of sisters. Two had been prin- 
cesses of Saxony and one a Queen of Prussia, while 
the fourth was the mother of the Emperor Francis 
Joseph of Austria- Hungary. King Ludwig First 
of Bavaria was a half-brother, and there were also 
two half-sisters. One was married first to the King 
of Wiirtemberg and afterwards to the Emperor Fran- 
cis First of Austria-Hungary ; the other became the 
wife of Napoleon's stepson, Eugene Beauharnais, 
and the grandmother of Kings Charles Fifteenth 
and Oscar Second of Norway and Sweden. 

Thus most of the dynasties of Europe were 

[^3] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

interested in the festivities in honor of the aged pair, 
and sent congratulations to the secluded spot on 
Starnberg Lake, where the event was celebrated, and 
where many touching proofs of the loyalty of the 
people of Bavaria were also received. 

Maximilian Joseph belonged to the most eccen- 
tric and popular branch of the Bavarian royal family. 
Educated directly under the eye of his grandfather, 
his childhood had been spent partly in Bamberg, 
partly in Munich. At the age of eighteen he en- 
tered the University of Munich, where he applied 
himself assiduously to the study of history, natural 
science, and political economy, and on coming of 
age he was given, as provided by the Bavarian con- 
stitution, a seat in the Senate chamber. But he did 
not aspire to fame, either as orator or statesman ; 
nor did he strive for military distinction, though at 
the age of thirty he was assigned to the command 
of a regiment of cavalry and in 1857 was invested 
with the rank of general. His natural love for 
science, literature, and art more often led him to 
exchange his uniform for the simple civilian dress. 

During the youth of the Duke a musician, named 
Johann Petzmacher, created a great stir. He was 
born in 1803, the son of an innkeeper in Vienna, 
and in his eighteenth year accidentally learned to 
play the homely zither with which the mountaineers 
of the Austrian and Bavarian highlands accompany 
[H] 



S8 THE DIAMOND WEDDING ^ 

their folk songs. He soon became so absorbed in 
the possibilities of this instrument that he gave up 
everything else to devote himself to it. His fame as 
a performer soon spread far and wide. He played 
before the most select circles of Vienna and even- at 
court, and made tours throughout Germany, being 
received everywhere with the greatest enthusiasm. 
Duke Max first heard him in 1837 ^^ ^ concert in 
Bamberg, and determined to learn to play the zither 
under the master's direction. Petzmacher was in- 
troduced to the would-be virtuoso, and from that 
time until his death made his home with his art- 
loving patron. The Duke in 1838 undertook a 
long journey through Asia and Africa, and his mu- 
sician friend accompanied him. Savages listened with 
delight to his playing, and as the two friends sat 
on the top of the Egyptian pyramids or camped in 
the hot desert sands, the homely melodies carried 
their thoughts back to loved ones in Germany, and 
dangers and hardships were forgotten. While on 
this journey Duke Max wrote several musical com- 
positions which were afterwards performed in public 
and received with great applause. Under the name 
of " Phantasus," he wrote a collection of dramatic 
poems and novels that showed no small literary 
talent. More noteworthy than these, however, is 
his " Travels in the Orient," a book of considerable 
merit. On his return to Bavaria he had a circus 

[■5] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

ring constructed in the rear of his palace in the 
Ludwigstrasse, at Munich, which aroused much cu- 
riosity, where he frequently made his appearance as 
ringmaster with members of the Bavarian nobility 
as circus riders and performers. 

It was only during the winter months that he re- 
mained in Munich. All through the Summer and 
Autumn he lived with his family at his castle Pos- 
senhofFen, beautifully situated on Lake Starnberg. 
This picturesque region, shut in by a chain of lofty 
Alps, seems as if created to inspire poetical senti- 
ment, and various members of the art-loving Bava- 
rian royal family have built summer palaces there. 

Max Joseph was an enthusiastic hunter and spent 
whole days roaming through the forests and moun- 
tains about PossenhofFen. Enjoyment of the beau- 
ties of nature was one of his passions, and he often 
came out in the Winter for a few days at a time. 
On these excursions he wore a simple hunting cos- 
tume, — short gray jacket, open shirt with sus- 
penders, feathered cap, knickerbockers with long 
stockings, and heavy-soled shoes. He generally 
went about on foot, but sometimes made use of the 
mail-coach, the usual mode of conveyance at that 
time. His fellow travellers seldom suspected that 
the good-natured huntsman who chatted so freely 
with them was a duke and the brother-in-law of 

their sovereign. He was continually besieged with 
[i6] 



J3 THE DIAMOND WEDDING Si 

petitions, and rarely did any one appeal in vain to 
the comparatively poor but warm-hearted prince. 
His benevolence was one of the chief causes for his 
popularity in Munich, though he was most beloved 
by the people as the gay zither player who with 
his instrument under his arm would enter their cot- 
tages quite like one of themselves, and play for the 
young people who were never weary of dancing to 
his music. 

His wife was very different. She had not his 
artistic, impulsive temperament, and the good- 
humored simplicity with which he mingled with the 
common people did not altogether meet with her 
approval. The proper maintenance of her position 
seemed no more than a duty due to her high birth 
and rank, and for this reason she was never as pop- 
ular as her husband, though her many admirable 
qualities commanded the greatest respect and ad- 
miration during the sixty years that she remained 
mistress of PossenhofFen. She was naturally en- 
dowed with a good mind and had been carefully 
educated. Honesty and love of truth were among 
her most marked characteristics, and all her life she 
held firmly to what after mature reflection she be- 
lieved to be right. Like the Duke, she preferred 
the seclusion of the country to city life, and all 
through their happy married life she acted as a bal- 
ance to her loving but restless husband as well as 
* [17] 



18 EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

friend and adviser of her children, who adored and 
looked up to her always. Her glance was keen but 
kindly. Smiles came easily to her lips, and there 
was an air of distinction about her that sprang from 
true nobility of heart. She was one of those strong 
souls born to help others, but in little need of sup- 
port themselves. She was by no means unambitious 
for her children, though the trials suffered because 
of them taught her by degrees to place less value 
upon outward splendor. She disliked to excite per- 
sonal attention and cared only to live as quietly and 
modestly as possible. 



[i8] 



Chapti 



'er II 

Birth and Childhood of 'Elizabeth of Bavaria 



^T was the Christmas Eve of 1837. The bells 
of Munich were proclaiming the festival when 
Max Joseph, wandering about in one of the 
poorer quarters of the city, met a woman drag- 
ging herself painfully toward him with a bundle of 
firewood on her back. She addressed him with the 
usual Bavarian greeting, 

" Praised be Jesus Christ ! '* 

" For ever and ever. Amen ! " replied the Duke, 
adding kindly, " Why are you carrying such a load 
upon your back this holy Christmas Eve ? " 

" I will tell you why, gracious Duke," said the 
woman; "it is because my children have no Christ- 
mas gifts, and I have been in the forest gathering 
wood so that they may at least enjoy a warm 
room." 

" You did right," returned the Duke. " As for 
me, I have already received my Christmas gift, for 
my wife presented me to-day with a charming little 
daughter who is to be called Liese, and I am so 
happy over it I wish you too to have a Merry 
Christmas." 

['9] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

He wrote her name and address in his notebook, 
and after the darkness had fallen two servants 
appeared at the poor woman's dwelling with two 
heavy baskets filled with food. At the bottom of 
each was a banknote for a considerable sum. 

The child born on this day was Elizabeth, after- 
ward Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. 
In many countries it is regarded as a sign of mis- 
fortune to be born on Christmas Eve, but the 
happy childhood of the little princess had no fore- 
shadowing of the experiences of her after life. 
Most of her early years were spent at Possen- 
hofFen, which her father had bought some time 
before her birth. The great park and surrounding 
forests were the child's first playgrounds, and de- 
veloped in her sensitive soul a deep love of nature 
and of freedom. 

The Duchess's chief concern was the education of 
her eldest daughter, of whom she had great hopes, 
Helene was nearly four years older than her sister 
and was the favorite of the mother, whom she re- 
sembled both in character and appearance. Over- 
shadowed by her seemingly superior talents, with 
no interest in books and ignorant of the require- 
ments of court life, Elizabeth — or " Sissi," as she 
was called — grew up almost unnoticed. She loved 
her sister with the enthusiasm of youth and with 

the natural tendency of the ignorant to look up to 
[20] 



'a BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD ^ 

those more clever than themselves, but her father 
and brothers were dearer to her than either sister or 
mother. 

The little girl was the darling of the Duke. She 
had inherited his love of nature, roamed about con- 
stantly with him through the mountains, visiting 
the peasants* huts, and learned to look at life and 
people through his eyes. Her bringing up in no 
way fitted her for the high station sne was after- 
ward to occupy. At the end of her fifth year she 
was given a governess, but " Sissi," though an un- 
usually gentle and lovable child, soon learned how 
to wind her teacher round her finger and concerned 
herself little about study, for which she had no 
love. The Empress used to declare that in her 
youth she was the most ignorant princess in Eu- 
rope, and the little she did know had been learned 
as she sat on her father's knee. But if not over- 
taxed with lessons, her education in other branches 
was by no means neglected. The Duke was de- 
termined that his children should be well developed 
physically, and one of the best dancing masters of 
the time was summoned to Possenhoffen to teach 
Elizabeth and her sisters to dance and carry them- 
selves properly. Even in her later years the Em- 
press was an excellent walker and famous for her 
easy, graceful carriage. 

" Walking never tires me,'* she said once to one 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

of her attendants, " and I have my father to thank 
for it. He was an indefatigable hunter and wanted 
my sisters and myself to be able to leap and spring 
like the chamois." She also learned to swim and 
ride and dearly loved to sit a horse and feel the 
wind blowing through her hair. She was never 
happier than when riding about Lake Starnberg on 
her little pony, and in the winter, when forced to 
stay in the capital, it was her greatest joy to escape 
to the stables, where she would mount the most 
unmanageable horses that could be found. One 
day while playing circus, as she often did, she was 
thrown by a wild, full-blooded animal. Her gov- 
erness uttered a shriek of terror, but Elizabeth 
quickly rose to her feet, neither frightened nor 
hurt, and laughingly besought permission to mount 
the horse again, which the terrified governess re- 
fused to grant. The happiest time in the whole 
year to her was when the warm spring days made 
it possible for them to return to PossenhofFen 
and she could enjoy unHmited freedom once more. 
She was passionately fond of flowers, and it is still 
told among the Bavarian Alps how " Liese of 
PossenhofFen " used to scramble about the wild 
unbeaten mountain paths to return at last with her 
arms full of edehveiss. 

Her father taught her to play the zither, and she 

often went with him on long tramps among the 
[22] 



18 BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD H 

Alps, stopping now and then for rest and refresh- 
ment at some hut where they would play dance 
music on their own instruments or on some they 
found there. On one occasion they had done this 
in a remote region where the huntsman and his 
daughter were not known, and the people gave the 
pretty child a piece of money in payment. Eliza- 
beth always kept it. " It is the only money I ever 
earned," she once said, when showing it to an ac- 
quaintance. There was never much pocket money 
for her to buy presents with, and she used often 
to spend the evenings knitting stockings for her 
mountain friends or sewing on some piece of 
needlework. The country folk about Possenhof- 
fen idolized the little Liese, and when overtaken 
by one of the autumn storms she would often take 
refuge in their huts, quite alone, and sit down by 
the fire to chat and laugh with old or young. Her 
parents saw nothing amiss in this. Duke Max 
liked nothing better than to enter into the lives of 
his people, and when the mother was told how her 
daughter ran about with her brothers or played the 
zither in hovels while the peasants danced she but 
smiled indulgently, saying: " She is only a child. I 
will take her education in hand later on." 

This free life at PossenhofFen taught the little 
Elizabeth to regard the woods and mountains as 
her second home, and the most splendid halls of 

[^3] 



JS EMPRESS ELIZABETH & 

the palace seemed small and stifling to her in com- 
parison. It no doubt exerted a marked influence 
on her later development, and possibly furnished a 
clue to her character as Empress of Austria. Had 
her childhood been different, she would unques- 
tionably have been better fitted for the position she 
was soon to occupy. 



[H] 



Chapter III 
Betrothal of Princess Elizabeth 




NE of the first journeys Elizabeth made 
with her parents and sisters was to Ischl. 
It was there that Franz Joseph's parents 
were in the habit of spending the sum- 
mer months, and the two sisters, the Archduchess 
Sophie and the Duchess Ludovica, had agreed to 
meet here in the Summer of 1853. The five years 
that had passed since the Emperor's accession to 
the throne had been years of struggle and anxiety. 
Only a few months before, he had been wounded by 
the dagger of an assassin. The internal disorders 
of the Empire, however, had not prevented his 
name from being linked with that of various Euro- 
pean princesses, — reports which were finally silenced 
by his clever and strong-willed mother, who swayed 
him completely and had determined that a princess 
of her own house should share her son's double 
throne. This was natural enough. Both the Wit- 
telsbachs and Hapsburgs are among the oldest 
reigning families of Europe, both have remained 
loyal to the Roman Catholic Church, and for six 

[^5] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

hundred years alliances between them have been 
common. 

The Archduchess had heard much of the talent 
and amiability of her sister^s daughter Helene. 
She and the Duchess Ludovica were on the best 
of terms and had already secretly decided on the 
marriage. It only remained for the young people 
to meet and take a fancy to each other, — a mat- 
ter of some concern to the Emperor, who, though 
an obedient son, was also a passionate admirer of 
the fair sex. It was certainly mutual attraction that 
drew Franz Joseph and Elizabeth together, though 
there are many tales told of how their betrothal 
came about. The following account, however, is 
probably nearest the truth. 

On the sixteenth of August, 1853, the Emperor 
went to visit his parents at Ischl and meet Max 
Joseph's family. As the travelling carriage rolled 
along the dusty highway, his adjutant suddenly 
uttered a cry of admiration : 

" Look, your Majesty, look yonder ! " 

Franz Joseph drew out his field glass and caught 
a glimpse of a beautiful child playing with a flock of 
goats on a meadow near by. The next instant the 
road turned and the town appeared in sight. 

An hour later he was sitting with his mother, 
when a young girl burst into the room, unan- 
nounced, with a bunch of wild roses in her hand. 
[a6] 



g BETROTHAL OF PRINCESS ^ 

She wore a short white frock, and a mass of silky- 
chestnut hair fell in soft waves about her slender 
figure. It was the same youthful beauty he had 
seen from the carriage. It was the first time they 
had met, but she recognized him at once from the 
portraits she had seen, and without a trace of em- 
barrassment approached and greeted him, saying 
heartily : 

" How do you do, cousin ? " 

" Who are you ^ " inquired the Emperor, almost 
fearing lest the lovely apparition might vanish before 
his eyes. 

" I am Elizabeth ! '* 

The smile in the wonderful blue eyes won his 
heart upon the spot. 

A few hours later he was presented to the Prin- 
cess Helene, who, if not beautiful, was a bright, 
intelligent-looking girl with an air of great distinc- 
tion. Had not Franz Joseph seen Elizabeth 
first, Helene would undoubtedly have become his 
Empress. The same day he was to dine with his 
aunt and uncle. As he entered their hotel in 
Ischl, he heard two voices from behind a half-closed 
door. 

" I beg of you not to go out, Princess 1 " said one ; 
" you know it has been forbidden." 

" That is the very reason why I want to," re- 
torted the other in soft girlish tones which he 

[27] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

recognized ; and the next moment Elizabeth stood 
before him, all smiles and blushes. 

" Why must you not go out ? " he asked, 

" Because I am only a child and am not expected 
to appear till my older sister is married. It is all 
your fault, and I shall have to eat by myself, too ! '* 

" Princess, what are you thinking of? " cried the 
governess, who now made her appearance, crimson 
with anger. " Pardon, your Majesty ! " she added, 
turning to the Emperor, " but 1 have had strict 
orders.** 

Without heeding her, he offered his arm to the 
young girl. 

" Let us go out together, cousin," he said. 

No, no, I dare not ! " she replied in alarm. 
Papa would be furious." 

" Come back ! " cried the governess,' and taking 
advantage of her pupil's momentary hesitation, she 
drew her into the room and closed the door with a 
low courtesy to the Emperor. 

At the close of the m.eal Franz Joseph turned to 
the Duke. " I have a favor to ask of my kind 
host," he said. " Is it not the custom in Bavaria 
for the children to come in after dinner ? I would 
like to become better acquainted with your second 
daughter, whom I saw for a moment at my mother's 
this morning." 

All exchanged glances, and there was a moment's 

[28] 






^ BETROTHAL OF PRINCESS £ 

silence, as Duchess Ludovica felt all her hopes for 
Helene slipping away. The Duke replied : 

" It shall be as you wish, your Majesty," and in 
a few moments Elizabeth made her appearance, 
blushing and frightened. 

Franz Joseph had not a high opinion of women 
as a rule. Young as he was, he had already had 
some experience of them, but this lovely, innocent 
child wrought a sudden change in him, and through 
the political clouds that darkened the first years of 
his reign love flashed like lightning into his heart. 
That evening the Archduchess Sophie gave a ball 
at which both nieces were present. The court, sus- 
pecting that fateful events were brewing, watched 
the Bavarian princesses curiously. The Archduchess 
showed marked favor to Helene; the son devoted 
himself to both. When during the cotillion he 
handed Elizabeth a magnificent bouquet of roses, 
the interest increased. Would the mother yield to 
the son, or the son give way to the mother ? 

Franz Joseph^s choice was already made, how- 
ever, and at the close of the ball he announced that 
he would have no one but Elizabeth for his wife. 
The Archduchess' surprise and chagrin at the failure 
of her cherished plan knew no bounds, but she de- 
termined not to oppose her son's choice. She had 
wanted him to marry her other niece, hoping to 
rule her as she did him ; if the crown were to go 

[^9] 



EMPRESS ELIZABETH 



to an immature child of sixteen instead of her 
clever sister of twenty, no doubt it would be so 
much the easier. 

At nine o'clock the next morning the royal car- 
riage stopped before Max Joseph's door. The 
Emperor hastened up the steps, asked for an inter- 
view with the Duke and the Duchess, and then and 
there made a formal request for the hand of Prin- 
cess Elizabeth. This was an affront to Helene 
that neither her father nor her mother found it easy to 
endure, but the suitor was persistent. If he could 
not have the one he loved, then he would not 
marry at all, and at length they were forced to 
yield. Franz Joseph wanted Elizabeth to be noti- 
fied at once, but they would not consent to force 
her in any way. She was still as much a child in 
heart and feeling as in appearance, and when first 
told of the Emperor's wishes she clasped her hands 
in dismay, exclaiming : 

" It is impossible ! I am much too young ! " 
Love had entered her dreams, however, even If 
her heart was not yet awakened. Franz Joseph's 
impetuous wooing appealed to her impulsive nature. 
She was attracted by his person and his tempera- 
ment, and without pausing to reflect, she joyfully 
promised to be his wife. The betrothal took place 
on the Emperor's twenty-third birthday, August 
i8, 1853. 
[30] 



S BETROTHAL OF PRINCESS & 

Great were the public rejoicings when the news 
reached Vienna. The glamour of romance that 
enveloped the affair appealed to the popular fancy, 
and a thousand tales were woven about the lovely 
child who was to be the bride of their young sov- 
ereign. Her pictures were scattered broadcast 
throughout the Empire, and people were never 
weary of dwelling on her beauty and the simple 
home life of her early days. During the month 
that the betrothed pair remained at Ischl with their 
parents, crowds flocked thither daily to gaze upon 
their future Empress, and returned full of praises 
of her modesty and charm. 



[3'] 



Chapter IV 
The Wedding Ceremonies 




N the twentieth of April, 1854, Elizabeth, 
accompanied by her parents and her two 
oldest sisters, started on her bridal jour- 
ney to Vienna. Peasants from all the 
surrounding country thronged the streets of her 
native city through which she passed, and, over- 
come with the grief of parting, she stood up in her 
carriage and waved a tearful farewell to the cheering 
crowds. 

The steamboat Stadt Regensburg conveyed the 
party from Straubing to Liutz. Work was every- 
where suspended as on a holiday, and nothing was 
thought of but the coming of the long-awaited prin- 
cess. At Liutz they had to go ashore to change 
boats, and there Franz Joseph met them, hurrying 
back to Vienna, however, so as to be there to wel- 
come his bride. The town was buried in flowers. 
A magnificent arch had been erected. Bonfires 
burned on all the surrounding heights, while torch- 
light processions, theatrical performances, and sere- 
nades concluded the festivities of the day. 

[3^] 



m WEDDING CEREMONIES S 

The next morning, April 22, the journey down 
the Danube was resumed. The Franz Joseph^ 
which carried them from Liutz to Mussdorf, was 
covered with roses from stem to stern, the cabin 
hung with purple velvet, and the deck transformed 
into a flower garden. It was a beautiful spring 
morning. Banners waved from every roof and 
tower, and the river banks were lined on either side 
with cheering throngs, eager to catch a glimpse of 
their future Empress. What they saw was a slen- 
der, white-robed figure hastening from one side of 
the vessel to the other and bowing continually in 
response to the storms of greeting of which she 
never seemed to tire. 

Meanwhile, at Mussdorf, the landing place for 
Vienna, great preparations had been made to wel- 
come her. Since early morning crowds had been 
flocking thither, waiting with imperturbable patience 
and struggling to keep the places so hardly won. 
Near the bridge a pavilion had been erected with 
a wide portico whose gilded turrets and cupolas 
gleamed afar, and by noon it was filled with nobles, 
prelates, high officials, and deputies from the middle 
classes. Stationed upon a terrace to the right were 
the foreign ambassadors with their ladies ; on the 
left sat representatives from Vienna and other cities 
under the Hapsburg rule. The weather had been 
threatening in the early part of the day, but towards 
3 [33] 



S EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

noon heavy gusts of wind scattered the clouds, leav- 
ing the bluest of skies to welcome the bridal party. 
At half-past six the boat touched the shore amid 
the booming of cannon, strains of music, and the 
solemn pealing of bells. Franz Joseph hastened 
forward to embrace his bride, closely followed by 
his parents, the Archduke Franz Karl and the 
Archduchess Sophie, who embraced Elizabeth and 
then led her back to the bridegroom. 

At last came the long-awaited moment when 
Elizabeth, leaning on the Emperor*s arm, entered 
the Austrian capital. From thousands of throats 
came the shout, " Long live the Emperor's bride ! " 
The sound was so overwhelming that Elizabeth 
stood for some moments by her lover's side as if 
spellbound ; then, as her glance swept slowly over 
the excited throng, she smiled charmingly and waved 
her handkerchief to the delighted spectators. Many 
years have passed since that day, many misfortunes 
have overtaken Austria and the house of Hapsburg, 
but eyewitnesses are still living who remember that 
moment and tell of the picture the fair young prin- 
cess made as she then appeared in all her exquisite 
loveliness. 

The progress from Mussdorf to Schonbrunn was 
a continuous ovation. At half-past seven they 
reached the gates of the old palace, where the Em- 
peror once more bade his bride welcome before 
[34] 




rpMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH 
^—^ in his t^wenty-eighth year 



S8 WEDDING CEREMONIES ^ 

leading her up the great staircase, which was deco- 
rated from top to bottom with tropical plants and 
flowers. On the following day the state entry into 
Vienna took place. Every house had been deco- 
rated by loving hands, and the streets through 
w^hich the bride was to pass were perfect rivers of 
flowers. The Elizabeth Bridge, which connected 
Vienna with the suburb of Wieden or " An der 
Wien," was opened that day and given the name of 
the Empress.^ Here the mayor and council of the 
city were stationed to welcome her. About the eight 
statues of famous men which adorned the bridge, 
thousands of rare shrubs and blossoms from the 
hothouses of Princes Lichtenstein and Schwarzen- 
berg, the fragrance of which filled the whole 
town, had been effectively arranged. As far as the 
Corinthian gate stretched a triple wall of citizens, 
and at short intervals young girls stood strewing 
flowers. 

The thunder of cannon and pealing of bells from 
every church tower in Vienna and its suburbs pro- 
claimed the starting of the procession. The golden 
state coach was drawn by eight milk-white horses 
with tall white plumes on their heads ; the harnesses 
were covered with gold, and the coachman, footmen, 
and postilions wore white wigs. On the back seat 



1 A few days before the death of the Empress Elizabeth, in 1898, this bridge 
was torn down. 

[35] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

sat the bride with her mother. Her dress was of 
red satin, embroidered in silver, and over it she 
wore a white cloak trimmed with garlands of roses. 
About her neck was a lace handkerchief, and in her 
beautiful hair sparkled a circlet of diamonds, twined 
in which was a wreath of red roses. Never had 
Elizabeth more fitly deserved the name so often 
given her, never had she more perfectly looked 
" The Rose of Bavaria." 

Early on the morning of April 24, 1854, Te 
Deums were celebrated in all the churches of 
Vienna and the august pair attended high mass 
in the court chapel. By three o'clock in the after- 
noon the crowds about the Hofburg and the Church 
of the Augustins, where the ceremony was per- 
formed, were so great that barriers had to be erected 
to keep a way clear for the coaches to pass. From 
all parts of the Empire and of Europe guests had 
been pouring into the capital. On the preceding 
day alone, seventy-five thousand strangers arrived, 
a most extraordinary number for those days. Even 
the Orient — Alexandria, Smyrna, and Salonica — 
sent representatives to the wedding. 

The famous old Church of the Augustins was 
gorgeously decorated for the occasion. Above the 
high altar rose a canopy of white velvet embroi- 
dered with gold, under which were placed two prie- 
dieux, also of white velvet. The walls and columns 
[36] 



S WEDDING CEREMONIES ^ 

of the church were hung with damask and costly- 
tapestry and the floor was carpeted. From a hun- 
dred candelabra countless tapers shed a soft but 
brilliant light. The Augustin Gallery, which led 
from the inner apartments of the Hofburg to the 
church, was similarly decorated and illuminated. 

The marriage was to take place at seven o'clock 
in the evening. By six every available space in the 
church was filled with invited guests. The gay 
uniforms of the officers, the many-colored and pic- 
turesque court dresses of the Hungarian and Polish 
nobles, the sparkling jewels of the ladies, the gold- 
embroidered coats of the ministers and distinguished 
guests, the red robes of the cardinals, the fantastic 
costumes of many of the Oriental emissaries, all 
united to form a scene of incredible magnificence. 

At the appointed time Prince Archbishop Rau- 
scher, the Emperor's former tutor, with more than 
seventy bishops and archbishops in their gold- 
embroidered vestments, assembled in the sacristy. 
The master of ceremonies informed his Majesty that 
all was ready, and the procession entered the Au- 
gustin Gallery. First came the pages, stewards, and 
gentlemen-in-waiting ; next the privy councillors and 
high court officials ; then the Archdukes with their 
chamberlains ; and, last of all, the Emperor himself, 
in the uniform of a field marshal and wearing all 
his orders. Directly behind the bridegroom came 

[37] 



13 EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

his mother, leading the bride on her left. On 
Elizabeth's left was her own mother. Duchess 
Ludovica, and after them followed the ladies of 
the court led by the Lord Chamberlain. 

The bride of sixteen was radiant with all the 
beauty and happiness of youth. Her wedding gown 
was of heavy white silk, richly embroidered with 
gold and silver, over which she wore a loose gar- 
ment of the same material with long sleeves. A 
diamond clasp held the long veil of Brussels point 
lace, and the bridal wreath of fresh myrtle and 
orange blossoms was secured by a magnificent coro- 
net of diamonds which her mother-in-law had worn 
at her own marriage and given to Elizabeth as a 
wedding gift. A diamond necklace encircled her 
throat, and upon her breast she wore the Bavarian 
order of Theresa and the Austrian order of the 
Starry Cross, together with a bunch of white 
roses. 

The Emperor and his bride were met at the 
door of the church by the Prince Archbishop, who 
sprinkled them with holy water, after which they 
knelt on the prie-dieux while the other members 
of the two royal families took their places. After 
a short prayer Franz Joseph and Elizabeth ad- 
vanced to the high altar, made their responses, 
exchanged rings, and clasped hands. As the Arch- 
bishop pronounced the Church's blessing at the close 
[38] 



S8 WEDDING CEREMONIES SS 

of the ritual, a salvo of musketry sounded from 
the regiment of infantry stationed on the Josephs- 
platz, and the next instant the thunder of cannon 
proclaimed that Austria had an Empress and 
Hungary a Queen. 



[39] 



Chapter V 
First Troubles 



A the time of her marriage Elizabeth was 
said to be not only the youngest but also 
the most beautiful Empress that had ever 
sat on the throne of the Hapsburgs. Her 
figure was tall and slender, her hands and feet small 
and well shaped, her features regular and delicate. 
She had a charming smile, wonderfully expressive 
dark blue eyes, a beautiful complexion, and a mass 
of waving chestnut hair that fell about her, when 
loosened, like a veil, and which she wore either 
hanging in eight heavy braids or wound like a 
coronet around her head. With no experience of 
the world and full of the confidence of youth, she 
looked forward to her married life as one long 
holiday. Crowned with love, all hearts should bow 
before her and she would be the good genius of her 
people. 

But disappointment followed close upon the heels 
of the first intoxication. If the lower classes were 
charmed with their Empress, this was far from being 
the case with an aristocracy that claims to be the 
most exclusive in Europe, and there were many at 
[40] 



FIRST TROUBLES 



court who felt that neither by age nor rank was this 
daughter of a non-royal Duke fitted to be their 
sovereign. Instead of being welcomed with open 
arms, therefore, she encountered only a wall of op- 
position and intrigue. Far from being the bril- 
liant centre of homage and admiration, as she had 
dreamed, she was grieved and mortified to find those 
about her anxious only to deprive her of the honors 
and influence that were her due. It was most un- 
fortunate that she should have been placed so early 
in a position requiring the utmost tact and knowl- 
edge without having had any training to fit her for 
it, — a poor bird that had left the home nest before 
it had learned to fly ! In Bavaria she had been a 
happy, care-free child, beloved by every one and so 
full of the joy of life that she seemed to carry with 
her wherever she went a breath of those woods and 
mountains she so dearly loved. A Wittelsbach by 
both lines of descent, she had inherited the charac- 
teristics of the race, their pride and independence, 
honesty and courage, to a striking degree. Even 
these virtues, however, were but so many dangers, 
since they made it difficult for her to adapt herself 
to the rules laid down by court life. Her very 
youth and freshness were out of place at Schon- 
brunn and the H of burg. Her ignorance and inex- 
perience, which were well known in Vienna, made 
it seem probable that she would prove an easy tool 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 



at court, provided she were only amused and flat- 
tered sufficiently. But this error was soon dis- 
covered. With the peculiarities of her race she 
had also inherited their marked mental gifts, and 
young as she was, her mind was quick to grasp 
whatever interested her and to choose or reject with 
certainty. 

Such a nature could not but rebel against the 
restraint and monotony of court life. Its pomps 
and ceremonies wearied her from the first, and little 
as she resembled Marie Antoinette in other ways, 
she hated etiquette even more than did that unfor- 
tunate Queen. The court of Vienna, which had 
lived by its conventional usages from time imme- 
morial, regarded as natural and necessary the forms 
that Elizabeth considered ridiculous and childish. 
She once aroused a storm of indignation by refus- 
ing to appear at the customary state breakfast, 
which consisted of various hot dishes, and ordering 
some bread and sausage and a glass of Munich beer 
to be brought to her in her own apartments. On 
another occasion, when presiding at one of her first 
court ceremonials, she took off her gloves, contrary 
to all custom and tradition. An elderly court dame 
hastened to remind her of her mistake. 

" Why should I not?" inquired the Empress. 

" Because it is against the rules of etiquette," was 
the answer. 
[4^] 



S8 FIRST TROUBLES & 

" Then in future let it be proper to break the 
rule ! " she declared. 

No young husband could have been more de- 
voted than Franz Joseph was to the bride he had 
found for himself without the aid of ambassador or 
envoy. " I am beloved as if I were a lieutenant, 
and as happy as a god ! '* he wrote to a friend just 
after the wedding. 

And Elizabeth did truly love him, but not as he 
did her. In spite of the intensity of feeling that 
showed itself in after life, there was a certain inborn 
coldness in her nature that made it impossible for 
her to share his ardor or to understand him always. 
But it often taxed his devotion and patience to rec- 
oncile this freedom-loving child of nature to the re- 
straints and obligations of her new position, and he 
was many times called upon to make peace between 
the older court ladies and their young mistress. 
He would gladly have loosened her bonds somewhat, 
but dared not introduce new ways and customs. 

The Archduchess Sophie had hitherto reigned 
supreme at court. She was a remarkably clever 
woman, and all through the first difficult years of 
her son's reign had proved a valuable support to 
him, and acquired an influence which she had no 
intention of surrendering into the hands of her 
seventeen-year-old niece. Two women, though of 
the same blood, could scarcely have been more 

[43] 



13 EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

different. The Archduchess was ambitious and 
worldly ; the Empress cared nothing for place or 
power. Sophie was completely under the influence 
of the priesthood ; Elizabeth worshipped God in 
nature, but avoided all religious ceremonies and 
hated priests. The older woman expected to find 
it easy to govern this child who had so unexpect- 
edly received the imperial crown, through her van- 
ity and inexperience, but finding herself mistaken, 
she resorted to other means. Elizabeth, as we have 
seen, had come to Vienna full of hopes and dreams, 
expecting naturally to occupy the first place in her 
husband's life and court ; but every attempt to 
assert her right as Empress was deliberately set 
aside by the Archduchess, who crushed her hopes 
and dispelled her dreams with a cruel hand, regard- 
less of her feeUngs. 

As for the court, " Madame Mere," as she was 
called, was a power whose friendship it was prudent 
to possess. It was believed, moreover, that Franz 
Joseph, whose fickleness and susceptibility in mat- 
ters of the heart were well known, would soon tire 
of his young wife. Elizabeth's inexperience made 
it impossible for her to battle successfully with 
court intrigues, and it was plain that the mother- 
in-law would be victorious in the struggle between 
them. The Emperor always treated his wife with 
the greatest care and consideration, but misunder- 
[44] 



^ FIRST TROUBLES ^ 

standings gradually arose between them, fostered 
by wounded pride on her side and on his by the 
Archduchess Sophie's constant efforts to lower her 
in the eyes of her son. Dearly as she loved Franz 
Joseph, Elizabeth held herself more and more aloof 
from him for fear of seeming the troublesome child 
her mother-in-law called her, and an expression of 
quiet sadness grew upon her. But there were mo- 
ments, too, of hot revolt against the cold, selfish 
world in which she lived, and these did not mend 
matters for her. Rash and thoughtless, she strug- 
gled against this unceasing persecution. She treated 
the Archduchess* followers with marked disdain and 
gave her confidence to others who deceived and 
betrayed her. 



[45] 



Chapter VI 
Travels and Sorrows 




' Y^THING had been originally farther 
from the wishes of the- young Empress 
than to fill her throne in solitary state, 
surrounded only by a few chosen families 
of noble birth. What she most wanted was to go 
about among the people and get acquainted with her 
new subjects, and during the early part of her mar- 
ried life she was often seen in the streets of Vienna. 
Wherever she went crowds gathered, struggling and 
pushing good-naturedly to get as near a view of her 
as possible. One day she went out to walk, accom- 
panied only by one of her ladies-in-waiting and 
without informing any one of her intention. On 
one of the principal squares, seeing something in a 
window that attracted her, she entered the shop, but 
on turning to go out again was unpleasantly sur- 
prised to find hundreds of faces peering in at the 
door and windows, and it was only with the aid of 
the police that she was able to reach the street 
again. This incident excited the greatest disap- 
proval at court. 

[46] 



S3 TRAVELS AND SORROWS ^ 

" Her Majesty seems to imagine herself still in 
the mountains of Bavaria. She forgets that she is 
the Empress of Austria and what she owes to her 
husband's position," was whispered about her. 

Discouraged at the result of her attempts to 
mingle with the people, she thenceforth avoided 
appearing in public as much as possible, confining 
her walks to the secluded portions of the palace 
gardens or the park about Schonbrunn. But even 
this did not satisfy the court, which now found fault 
with her for neglecting to show herself before the 
people on every possible occasion. This hostility 
and opposition that met the young Empress at every 
turn only made her retire the more within herself, 
and really inflicted an irreparable wrong, for it devel- 
oped in her an inherited love of solitude that, once 
acquired, soon became too fixed ever to be renounced. 

Meanwhile the outlying portions of the Empire 
— Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, and Hungary — were 
waiting anxiously to welcome the imperial pair, and 
soon after the wedding they began a series of short 
journeys. 

In September, 1856, they made a visit to the 
Austrian Alps that is still remembered and talked 
of even in the remotest mountain valleys. From 
Heiligenblut, where they spent the night, the Em- 
peror and Empress climbed the Grossglockner. 
About four o' clock in the morning, after hearing 

[47] 



IS EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

mass in the little parish church, they began the 
ascent, accompanied by two experienced guides, 
Elizabeth riding part of the way, while her husband 
walked. During the walk he gathered a bunch of 
edelweiss growing on a steep cliff and handed it to 
his wife, saying, " This is the first edelweiss I ever 
picked." 

At the Wallner Hut, as it was then called, the 
Empress stopped to rest, while Franz Joseph 
climbed to the lofty Glockner-saddle, and it was in 
remembrance of this visit that the Wallner Hut 
received the name of Elisabeth-ruhe. From there 
they went to Steiermark and thence to Gratz, 
where they arrived on the eleventh of September, 
and where, as at all other places, they were received 
with the greatest enthusiasm. In November of the 
same year they visited the Italian provinces which 
at that time formed part of their dominions. Owing 
to the political disturbances of the period and the 
feeling of the Italians against Austria, it was feared 
the sovereigns would meet with a cold reception ; 
but the " mistress of the Adriatic " had decked 
herself magnificently to greet the young Empress. 
The streets and market-places were brilliantly illu- 
minated and gorgeous masked balls were given in 
her honor. All hearts were won by Elizabeth's 
beauty and charm of manner, and the delighted 
Emperor said to her : 
[48] 



13 TRAVELS AND SORROWS & 

" Your smile has done more toward conquering 
the people than all my armies have been able to 
accomplish ! " 

Franz Joseph, as we have seen, was a mere youth 
when his uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, abdicated 
in his favor and retired to Prague to end his days. 
The young sovereign had scarcely ascended the 
throne when rebellion broke out in Hungary, and 
unable to quell the disturbance alone he was forced 
to seek aid from Russia. Czar Nicholas placed one 
hundred thousand men at his disposal, and the 
revolt of 1 848-1 849 was crushed with a firm hand. 
Countless towns, villages, and estates were laid in 
ashes, and the country was left bleeding from almost 
incurable wounds. The people bore their hard fate 
in sullen defiance, and five years later, when the 
Emperor married, time had done little to soften 
their hatred of Austria. 

The pardon that Franz Joseph had granted on 
his wedding day to all political offenders in his 
dominions formed one step toward reconciliation, 
but the first real signs of a more friendly feeling 
were due not to him but to the Queen. It was her 
smile that finally appeased the wrath of the Hun- 
garians, her beauty and goodness that laid the 
foundation of more amicable relations between them 
and their sovereign. She devoted herself assidu- 
ously to the study of their language, one of the 
4 [49] 



S5 EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

most difficult in Europe, interested herself in the 
art and customs of the country, and showed such 
deep concern for their welfare that she is said to 
have wept on occasions when her husband refused 
to grant their wishes. 

The reason for Elizabeth's sudden and strong 
attachment to this hitherto unknown country could 
have been only a psychological one. When she 
first came to Vienna, she was impressed with the 
violent prejudice that existed at court against the 
Hungarians. Each attempt of that liberty-loving 
people to throw off their chains was regarded as a 
fresh crime by the Archduchess Sophie and her ad- 
herents, and the Empress heard much harsh criti- 
cism of her subjects beyond the Leytha. Her 
natural perversity and independence, however, led 
her to investigate the matter for herself, and she 
soon gained a very different idea of the open-hearted, 
chivalrous Hungarians, whose natural character was 
so like her own. Hoping to learn more of the 
inner life of the people by means of the language, 
she began the study of it with a zeal and industry 
that shrank from no difficulties till in time she 
acquired perfect mastery of it even to speaking it 
like a native. 

" Queen Elizabeth speaks our language without 
a trace of foreign accent," said the Hungarian poet, 
Maurus Jokai, " speaks it like a peasant woman 
[50] 



^ TRAVELS AND SORROWS ^ 

and without any of the affectation common with 
most of our court ladies/* 

Her first teacher was an old professor named 
Homokh, with whom she learned the grammar and 
to read easily. But this did not satisfy her. She 
wanted a thorough knowledge of Hungarian litera- 
ture and engaged as her instructor Dr. Max Falk, 
at that time a journalist in Vienna. His methods 
were far less tedious than those of Homokh, and 
she began to read the best passages of Scripture, to- 
gether with a history of the people. He also gave 
her for translation into Hungarian the French 
correspondence between Joseph Second of Austria 
and Catherine Second of Russia, published by 
Arnath, a task she found most delightful. Her 
tutor was charmed with her enthusiasm and the 
accuracy with which she performed her duties as 
pupil. One morning as she handed him her writ- 
ten translation, she said : 

" All day yesterday my time was taken up with 
audiences, and in the evening there was a court con- 
cert. After that I was so tired I went directly to 
bed, but no sooner had I lain down than I re- 
membered my Hungarian translation had not been 
written. So I tore a leaf from the almanac that lay 
on a table beside my bed and did it there. Excuse 
the pencil." 

It was not until May, 1857, however, that she 

[51] 



S EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

made her first visit to Hungary. Her arrival was 
hailed with enthusiasm, and the young Queen was 
everywhere greeted with shouts of joy. An exten- 
sive tour of the country had been planned by the 
sovereigns, but a sad event forced them to aban- 
don it. 

The Emperor and Empress had two children at 
this time, the little Archduchesses Sophie and 
Gisela. Scarcely had the court established itself in 
the royal palace at Ofen when word was received of 
the illness of the two-year-old Sophie. The physi- 
cians' first reports were reassuring, but on reaching 
Debreczin, May 28, the despatches announced a 
change for the worse. The anxious parents has- 
tened back to Budapest, where on the next even- 
ing they heard that their oldest child was dead. 

Elizabeth left Hungary with tears in her eyes. 
Her first great sorrow had befallen her on her first 
visit among the Magyars, and it may have been 
that grief attached her still more closely to this 
people whom in after years she loved so well and by 
whom she was adored as a sovereign and reverenced 
as a guardian angel. 



[5^] 



Chapter VII 
Birth of Crown Prince Rudolf 




*^OT only the Emperor and his family but 
the whole nation were anxious for an heir 
to the throne, and the disappointment 
was great when on May 5, 1855, the 
Empress gave birth to a daughter, who was called 
Sophie Dorothea, after the Emperor's mother. 
Elizabeth was too young and inexperienced to 
understand this, though she could not fail to read 
the evidences of it in the faces of those about her. 
Still greater dissatisfaction greeted the birth of a 
second daughter, Gisela, in July, 1856. This daugh- 
ter was married in 1873 to Prince Leopold of Bava- 
ria, second son of the present Prince Regent. 

The Empress looked forward to her maternal 
duties with the greatest happiness, and asked noth- 
ing more than to devote herself to her children. 
But even this was not to be allowed her. The 
Archduchess Sophie had the little girls removed 
almost immediately to a remote wing of the Hof- 
burg, leaving the young mother alone in her splen- 
did apartments, where she had always felt herself so 
much a stranger. Involuntarily she compared her 

[53] 



EMPRESS ELIZABETH 



lot with that of her mother, the mistress of Possen- 
hoffen, whose busy life was filled with work and 
noble sacrifices for her flock of children, while the 
Empress of Austria had nothing left her but to 
preserve her beauty and exhibit her toilettes. The 
importance of providing the Empire with an heir 
was impressed upon her so constantly that she was 
puzzled and asked her own mother once in a mo- 
ment of confidence : 

" If I should have no son, do you suppose that 
Franz would follow Napoleon's example and cause 
our marriage to be annulled ? " 

" Do not think of such things, my child," repUed 
the Duchess. "You know that Franz loves you 
devotedly." Then she continued : " There are two 
sorts of women in this world, — those who always 
get their own way and those who never get it. You 
seem to me to be one of the latter. You have 
great abilities and do not lack character. But you 
have not the faculty of stooping to the level of 
your associates, or adapting yourself to your envi- 
ronment. You belong to another period, that in 
which saints and martyrs existed. Do not attract 
notice by being too obviously the first or break 
your own heart by fancying yourself the latter." 

At last, shortly before her twenty-first birthday, 
her dearest wishes were gratified, and on August 21, 
1858, a son was born to the imperial pair, a beautiful 
[54] 



J5 BIRTH OF RUDOLF ^ 

child though somewhat delicate, in whose cradle the 
delighted father hastened to lay the Order of the 
Golden Fleece. 

The next morning the good news was carried by 
telegraph to every corner of the world, a salute of a 
hundred and one guns was fired from all the for- 
tresses in Austria and Hungary, and the signal was 
echoed from a million throats, while public enthu- 
siasm was still further increased when the Crown 
Prince, at his christening, received the name of his 
great ancestor Rudolf of Hapsburg. The popu- 
larity of the Empress was at once restored. Her 
enemies were silenced, her mother-in-law contented, 
and she herself for a time was happy. 

" No one has seemed to need me until now," she 
declared pathetically, " not even my little girl whom 
they keep from me as much as possible. But I will 
not permit my boy to be taken away and given to 
the care of strangers. He will need me and we 
will be happy in each other.'* 

Again, however, she was mistaken. Rudolf was 
installed as soon as possible in a remote part of the 
palace, the Archduchess insisting that it was not 
suitable for the heir to a great empire to be brought 
up by a young mother who as yet did not even 
know how to conduct herself. When Elizabeth 
begged to be allowed the care of her own child and 
dwelt on the comfort it would be to her, her 

[55] 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

mother-in-law declared indignantly that it was ab- 
surd to talk of the need for comfort when she had 
everything in the world to make her happy. From 
Sophie's point of view indeed this was perhaps true, 
but Elizabeth was of a different stamp, and no out- 
ward luxury could make up to her for disappointed 
hopes or an empty heart. Matters grew still worse 
for her when in the Summer of 1857 the Emperor's 
second brother, Ferdinand Maximilian, married 
Charlotte, the daughter of King Leopold First of 
Belgium. This aspiring princess attached herself 
at once to the court party and became a great 
favorite with her mother-in-law. 

Meanwhile heavy clouds were gathering on the 
political horizon. Among Franz Joseph's Italian 
subjects the ferment was strongest, but throughout 
the whole Empire there was great discontent. It 
was well known that the Archduchess Sophie held 
the reins of power, and that it was she who declared 
war or concluded peace, — a state of things that 
caused much opposition in diplomatic circles, while 
all classes united in condemning this so-called " pet- 
ticoat government." 

When the war with France and Sardinia broke 
out in 1859, it was less a question of the country's 
incontestable rights than of the maintenance of the 
power of the Jesuits. Elizabeth plainly saw the mis- 
take her husband was making in allowing himself 
[56] 



13 BIRTH OF RUDOLF ^ 

to be guided so much by his mother in political 
matters and longed to use her influence with him 
to prevent it, but she was powerless. No one asked 
her advice, no one cared for her opinion ; so she 
held her peace. While Franz Joseph was fighting 
at Solferino and his mother corresponded with for- 
eign courts or held long conferences with statesmen 
and diplomats, the Empress had to content herself 
with visiting wounded soldiers and officers from the 
Italian battlefields. Like an angel of mercy she 
went about among the hospitals, tasting the food 
that had been prepared and distributing money and 
cigars. Her gentle words of pity and cheer carried 
the more weight since they had none of the sancti- 
monious tone so common at that time. The halo 
of piety with which the Archduchess Sophie envel- 
oped all her actions was most distasteful to Eliza- 
beth, who did not attempt to conceal her dislike of 
the clergy. 

Once at a court ball, her train became entangled 
around the feet of the papal nuncio, who happened 
to be standing near. With an angry glance the 
Empress jerked it toward her with such force that 
the prelate barely escaped a fall, — a scene that was 
the cause of much suppressed merriment, for it was 
well known that Her Majesty would quite as gladly 
have deprived him of his influence at court as upset 
his person in the ball-room. 

[57] 



Chapter VIII 
Elizabeth's Illness and Sojourn in Madeira 



n 



^=^HE estrangement between the Emperor 
and Empress gradually increased. Affairs 
of state, the distractions of court life, to- 
gether with Franz Joseph's growing dis- 



position to return to the habits and pleasures of his 
bachelor life, all tended to widen the breach between 
them. The Emperor was naturally kind and affec- 
tionate, but he also had weaknesses which on closer 
acquaintance proved him to be far from the ideal 
character his young wife had imagined. She was 
too proud to stoop to unworthy means to retain his 
attachment for her, and her increasing sadness and 
reserve as well as her disinclination to take part in 
the festivities of the court, only wearied and helped 
to estrange him the more, as he felt in it a silent 
reproach. 

Elizabeth had expected to find complete happi- 
ness in his love, and her solitary position at court in 
an atmosphere so hostile had made her cling yet 
more closely to this hope. By this time, however, 
reality had dispelled this illusion. She did not feel 
[58] 



S8 SOJOURN IN MADEIRA £ 

that she had lost her power over him or even his 
love, but her faith in him was shaken and her confi- 
dence destroyed. To be pitied was unendurable to 
the proud daughter of the Wittelsbachs. She hid 
her disappointment from the world and retired more 
and more within herself. At length her health be- 
gan to give way. She struggled bravely against her 
growing weakness, but was finally seized with an 
illness which her physicians could neither under- 
stand nor cure. After repeated consultations it was 
decided that her lungs were affected, and a journey 
to Madeira was advised, that place being at the time 
regarded as the most favorable one for troubles of 
that kind. For a long time she refused to follow 
their advice, but finally early in the year 1861 she 
consented to go. Those who saw her start doubted 
whether she would ever return, and she herself had 
little hope of regaining her health. 

She left Europe wrapped in mist and cold. 
When she landed in Madeira, a week later, she was 
greeted by blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and tropi- 
cal vegetation. The villa she was to occupy was 
charmingly situated, with wide verandas, terraces 
overlooking the sea, and a chain of mountains 
stretching behind it. Under these new conditions 
the Empress began at once to improve and by the 
first of March was able to make daily excursions 
about the island, which was now ablaze with flowers. 

[59] 



EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 



She even grew to look upon her illness as a de- 
liverer. It had enabled her to escape from the 
oppression of court life, and the quiet solitude 
taught her patience and gave her strength to bear 
the trials still in store for her. She lived over 
the struggles of her life at Vienna, so different 
from the happy days of childhood in her peaceful 
Bavarian home, the memory of which, together 
with the tales and legends she had heard at her 
father's knee, returned so often and so vividly to 
her mind. 

She rose early every morning, studied, and prac- 
tised her music, wrote daily letters to her husband 
and her parents, and took long walks upon the 
shore. Once during her stay on the island she had 
a visit from her sister Helene, who had married the 
Prince of Thurn and Taxis. Vessels rarely stopped 
there, and her life was most uneventful ; but nature, 
which she had always loved, now became doubly 
dear. It was there too that she discovered a new 
interest in the world of poetry, and books soon 
became Hke friends to her. In the long solitary 
evenings she would take refuge In them from the 
restless longings of her heart and forget for the time 
her cares and troubles. Meanwhile, in Vienna, news 
of the Empress* death was daily expected, but in- 
stead came word that her cough grew better, and at 
last it was announced that the climate of Madeira 
[60] 



IS SOJOURN IN MADEIRA ^ 

had done its work and she would be allowed to 
come back after a stay of four months. 

On the way home in the middle of May a fright- 
ful storm arose, and the yacht Victoria and Albert 
(which had been loaned her by Queen Victoria of 
England for the return voyage) was tossed about 
like a nutshell on the angry sea. The Empress, 
however, refused to leave the deck in spite of all 
entreaties and the mountainous waves that threat- 
ened to sweep her over the side of the vessel. She 
even had herself fastened to the mast that she 
might safely enjoy the wonderful spectacle. On the 
eighteenth of May she was met off Trieste by the 
Emperor, who had come out on a warship to wel- 
come her with an escort of ^yq steamboats carrying 
notables and citizens with bands of music. At ten 
o'clock a shot from the castle announced the ap- 
proach of the flotilla, and amid thundering salutes 
from batteries and warships the Emperor and Em- 
press entered the harbor and landed near Miramar, 
the pleasure palace built for Archduke Maximil- 
ian, afterward Emperor of Mexico. A celebrated 
painting depicts the meeting between the young 
Archduchess Charlotte and Elizabeth on the great 
marble terrace overlooking the sea. 

At Baden Elizabeth saw her mother-in-law and 

children again, and five days later the imperial pair 

entered Vienna, the railway station of which was 

[61] 



SS EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

decorated with flowers in honor of the occasion. 
They drove to the palace in an open carriage amid 
the cheers of the populace, whose joy over the Em- 
press* recovery found further expression the follow- 
ing day in praise services held in all the churches 
of the city. 



[62] 




Chapter IX 
The Empress' Flight from Vienna 

LIZABETH'S sojourn in Madeira did 
not bring the permanent improvement 
that was hoped for. A few weeks after 
her return to Austria the cough returned, 
and fearing that the nature of her illness had been 
mistaken, her parents* physician who had had the 
care of her in her youth was sent for. He de- 
cided that she was suffering from acute indigestion 
and that a change was imperative. This time the 
place of resort chosen was the island of Corfu, 
where she arrived safely soon afterward, accom- 
panied by her physician. The Empress was 
charmed with the villa that had been secured for 
her, about half an hour's drive from the capital. It 
was surrounded with gardens and large grounds, 
and in a shorter time even than at Madeira she 
began to show the beneficial effects of the climate. 

Not far from the house was the mountain Aja 
Kyriahi, on the summit of which stood a small 
church surrounded with cypresses. Every morn- 
ing before sunrise she climbed to this spot, and 

[63] 



IS EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

whenever in after years she came back to Corfu 
she always visited it. 

At the end of two months her health was quite 
restored, and toward the close of October she left 
for Venice, where she held her court that Winter. 
Her return to Vienna the following August, after a 
sojourn in the Tyrol, was the occasion for almost as 
much enthusiasm as on her wedding day, the people 
everywhere showing the most touching proofs of 
their sympathy and devotion. 

But again her stay in Vienna was destined to be 
of short duration, for after the lapse of a few weeks, 
unexpectedly and without confiding her intentions 
to any one, she left the capital, to seek refuge in 
travel from the troubles and complications of her 
position there. The Emperor followed to try and 
bring about a reconciliation, but she refused to 
meet him, and he returned at length to Vienna 
weary and disheartened. With her capacity for 
loving and her pride Elizabeth must have suffered 
intensely from the slights and disappointments of 
her married life, and fresh persecutions on the part 
of her mother-in-law, who had already succeeded in 
estranging her husband and children from her, no 
doubt led her to this step. 

Months went by, and still the Empress continued 
her wanderings. There was a general feeling of 
sympathy for the Emperor, but in spite of this 
[64] 



^ FLIGHT FROM VIENNA m 

many began to take the part of his young wife, and 
when the Archduchess Sophie condemned her too 
harshly, beUeved that had it not been for " Madame 
Mere," her daughter-in-law would never have gone 
away. The estrangement lasted for several years, 
but Elizabeth, at the urgent entreaties not only of 
the court but of her own family, agreed to return to 
Vienna once or twice a year to fulfil the state duties 
required of her. She remained no longer than nec- 
essary, however. The joys of travel had become too 
dear to her, the constraints of court life too irksome. 
Franz Joseph meanwhile was growing more and 
more unreconciled to this state of affairs. The 
health of the Crown Prince was causing some anxi- 
ety, and his Majesty was urged to make his peace 
with the Empress. Elizabeth accordingly was ap- 
proached by her mother, the Duchess Ludovica, 
for whose opinion she had the greatest respect, 
and who finally convinced her that it was her duty 
to go back to her children. Time and loneliness 
too had softened the bitterness of her feelings 
and awakened a mutual desire for reconciliation. 
Outside events also helped to bring about the re- 
union. Misfortune had overtaken Austria : the 
war of 1866 had driven the Hapsburgs from Italy 
and Germany, and Elizabeth, roused to sympathy, 
turned her face homeward, feeling that her place 
was with the Emperor and his people. Though 

5 [65] 



S8 EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

still young in years her sorrows and trials had 
robbed her of her youth, and she came back a 
woman strong and self-reliant, caring little for court 
life, but devoting herself to hospital work among 
the wounded soldiers with an energy and self- 
sacrifice that earned her the reverence of all. Day 
after day she spent at the bedsides of the suffering, 
speaking to each in his own language and seeking to 
satisfy his wants. One man, named Joseph Feher, 
had refused to have his arm amputated, but the 
Empress begged him so earnestly to consent to the 
operation that he finally yielded, and she wrote to 
his mother that she would have her son taken to 
the palace of Laxenburg and provide for his future. 
Another day she came upon a soldier whose head 
had been so nearly severed that the physicians had 
no hope of saving him. Sitting down beside him, 
she asked if he had any last requests that she might 
fulfil for him. In a faltering voice he answered: 

" Since I have had the happiness of seeing the 
Empress at my death-bed, there is nothing left to 
wish for in this world. I die happy ! " 

Wherever she appeared the weakest tried to lift 
themselves at her approach. Arms were out- 
stretched to touch her as she passed, and when 
she left, there was a general murmur of — 

" God bless our Elizabeth ! '* 

[66] 



Chapter X 
The Coronation in Hungary 



A: 



yA GAIN the Archduchess Sophie's schemes 
for the house of Hapsburg proved dis- 
astrous, and Franz Joseph's eyes were 
>pened at last to the fact that her sway- 
had been as unfortunate for the country as it was 
fatal to his domestic happiness. In these bitter 
days of defeat and humiliation he learned to value 
the Empress at her true worth. She now became 
his real companion. In the latter years of her hfe 
he often consulted her in regard to affairs of state, 
and she might have exercised a much greater power 
in politics had she so desired. But the only matter 
of government in which she ever cared to have a 
voice was in regard to Flungary, in whose welfare 
she always felt the deepest interest. After the 
Austrian losses in 1866 she once said to Count 
Julius Andrassy : 

" It distresses me to have things go wrong in 
Italy, but if anything were to happen to Hungary 
it would kill me ! " 

One Summer while visiting some baths, she 
climbed a near-by mountain on the summit of 

[67] 



15 EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

which a small chalet had been built. As they en- 
tered, her companion, seeing a visitor's book on the 
table, wrote in it "Elizabeth, Empress of Austria." 
Thereupon her mistress drew off her gloves and, 
taking the pen, added in Hungarian, " Elizabeth, 
Queen of Hungary." 

This mutual attachment proved a valuable safe- 
guard during the war of 1866, when the Prussians 
threatened to advance on Vienna. It was thought 
safest for Elizabeth and the little Crown Prince to 
retire to Budapest, where she was received with an 
enthusiasm little short of Maria Theresa's memora- 
ble reception. There is no doubt that the devotion 
of the people to the Queen was largely instrumental 
in bringing about a better feeling between Austria 
and Hungary, while still another proof of this de- 
votion was their special request that she might be 
crowned together with the King, an event that had 
never before occurred in the history of the country. 

It was not until the eighth of June, 1867, how- 
ever, that the coronation took place. The ancient 
city of Pressburg had been the scene of all former 
coronations, but on this occasion the ceremonies 
were to be held for the first time in Ofen and Pesth, 
or Budapest, as it is now called, which had been made 
the capital in 1848. The city is one of the most 
beautifully situated in all Europe. On an almost 
perpendicular rock stands the royal castle, an 
[68] 



2S THE CORONATION ^ 

imposing structure of great antiquity, and at its foot, 
surrounding it on three sides, lies Ofen. The flat 
and more modern town of Pesth is to the left, and 
beyond it extend boundless plains. 

Both cities were in gala attire to welcome the 
sovereigns. In every direction as far as the eye 
could reach was a sea of waving flags and pennants, 
and on the spire of the Rathshaus gleamed a huge 
crown of St. Stephen. The evening before the cere- 
mony was to take place Franz Joseph and his wife 
made a visit to the cathedral, which had been 
magnificently decorated for the occasion, and were 
greeted everywhere with the wildest enthusiasm. 
As they were about to leave the church an old 
man fell from a ladder on which he had perched 
himself in order to obtain a view of " the good 
Queen of Hungary." Elizabeth, who saw him fall, 
hastened at once to his assistance, — an act that 
called forth renewed cheers when it reached the 
ears of those outside. 

The town was crowded with Magyars from all 
parts of the kingdom, and sixty thousand troops 
lined the streets from the railway station to the 
royal castle, a distance of six kilometres. It was a 
most brilliant sight as the procession wound slowly 
down from the castle and crossed the bridge. Franz 
Joseph made a stately and imposing figure in his 
crown and coronation robes, but Elizabeth was the 

[69] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

centre of all eyes. The sides of the coach were of 
glass so that she could be seen from all directions. 
It was surmounted by a large crown and drawn by 
six magnificent white horses, their long manes and 
tails interwoven with gold. Elizabeth at this time 
was in the prime of her majestic loveliness, having 
not yet reached her thirtieth year, and was con- 
sidered the most beautiful princess in the whole 
civilized world. Deafening " Eljens " greeted her 
all the way to the cathedral, cannon thundered, and 
white-clad maidens showered roses in her path. 

Immediately behind the Queen followed a mounted 
escort of two hundred young nobles in the gorgeous 
costume of the Hungarian magnate, covered with 
gold and precious stones. Their reins and stirrups 
were similarly adorned, and over the left shoulder 
they wore a leopard skin. The King and his suite 
had already taken their places in the cathedral when 
the Queen entered. She wore a dress of white bro- 
caded satin and a black velvet bodice covered with 
diamonds. The coronation robe was also of black 
velvet, bordered with white satin. About her neck 
was a Hungarian necklace of diamonds, and on her 
head she wore the Hapsburg coronet that had been 
made originally for Maria Theresa. It is composed 
entirely of pearls and diamonds and is valued at three 
milhon gulden. While the King was being crowned, 
she remained seated with clasped hands absorbed in 

[70] 



IS THE CORONATION & 

prayer, after which she in turn went through her 
part of the ceremony. As she resumed her place 
upon the throne beside the Emperor with orb and 
sceptre in hand, the whole assemblage joined in a 
mighty Te Deum which re-echoed from the vaulted 
roof of the old church. 

The coronation ceremonies and the enthusiasm 
with which she was everywhere received made such 
an impression upon Elizabeth that she could never 
afterward speak of them without emotion and al- 
ways regarded the occasion as one of the happiest 
times of her life. 



[7"] 



Chapti 



'er XI 

The Archduchess Marie Valerie 



^ j r ^HE years following the coronation in 
Hungary were without doubt among the 
happiest of the Empress Elizabeth's life. 
She interested herself in the details of her 
children's education, shared her husband's occupa- 
tions and anxieties, and resumed her place at court 
with a dignity and loftiness of purpose that com- 
pletely silenced her enemies. Conditions too had 
changed. The Archduchess Sophie had not only 
ceased to be a ruling power, but was completely 
crushed by the death of her second son, Maximilian, 
in Mexico, where he had been condemned to death 
and shot in 1867, after he had reluctantly accepted 
the throne. His unhappy wife, whose ambition was 
partly responsible for these tragic events, became 
hopelessly insane and it fell to Elizabeth's lot to 
support and comfort the grief-stricken family. 

The following year, April 22, 1868, another 

daughter was born to the imperial pair at the royal 

castle at O fen. It was the first time for a century 

that a child of the royal house had been born in 

[7^] 



J5 ARCHDUCHESS VALERIE SS 

Hungary, and the enthusiasm of the Magyars knew 
no bounds. All night the streets were filled with 
excited throngs shouting " Eljens '* for the King 
and Queen and the new-born Princess. 

The Archduchess Marie Valerie, as she was 
christened, became the Empress' favorite child. 
The two older ones had been kept away from her 
so long that at first they were completely estranged 
and it required much patience and devotion on 
her part to gain their affection and confidence. 
The Crown Prince, who was ten years old at that 
time, was a most interesting child and already a uni- 
versal favorite, but under his grandmother's influ- 
ence he had developed a mixture of wayward pride 
and vanity that troubled his mother greatly and 
which she strove hard to correct. Fortunately, 
however, Rudolf was tender-hearted and easily in- 
fluenced, and she succeeded at last to a large extent 
in overcoming the evil effects of the adulation and 
flattery with which the little heir had been sur- 
rounded. With Valerie she determined it should 
be different, and from earliest babyhood her train- 
ing and education became the Empress' chief care. 
She was a delicate child, and the mother watched 
over her with a devotion that seemed almost like a 
reparation for what she had failed to give her other 
children. She was present at the lessons of the two 
elder ones whenever possible and took the greatest 

[73] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

interest in their education, repeatedly impressing on 
their teachers that she did not want them favored 
or spoiled. She taught the little girls to dance, 
and the first dance that Valerie learned was the 
Hungarian Czardas. She tried to implant in them 
her own love for Hungary and urged their tutors 
and governesses " to make them as little German as 
possible." 

Christmas was the most joyful time in the year 
for the imperial family, and Christmas Eve, being 
also Elizabeth's birthday, was celebrated as a double 
feast. There were always two trees, the smaller of 
which the Empress decorated with her own hands 
for the children. She spent days looking for ap- 
propriate gifts for' them and the Emperor, as well as 
the .various members of the court, whose individual 
tastes she always tried to gratify. One day, shortly 
before Christmas, Marie Valerie came to her mother 
with a beseeching air and begged that the presents 
intended for her might be given to some poor chil- 
dren. Much touched by the idea, Elizabeth con- 
sented, and from that time there was always another 
tree laden with gifts for the unfortunates. 

The Empress adored flowers. During her ram- 
bles she would gather whole armfuls, and even when 
riding would often spring from her horse to pick 
wild flowers and fasten them to the pommel of her 
saddle. Her rooms were always filled with them, 
[74] 



IS ARCHDUCHESS VALERIE Sd 

and if any choice blossom chanced to please her 
especially she would carry it at night into her own 
bedroom. " Mutzerl/* as Marie Valerie was called, 
inherited this passion of her mother's, and almost 
as soon as she could walk she started little gardens 
of her own at the different places where the court 
stayed in turn. She was her mother's constant 
companion and there was the most touching sym- 
pathy and devotion between them. " Valerie is not 
only a daughter to me," Elizabeth once said, " but 
my best friend and companion." 

The Archduchess was remarkable for her sim- 
plicity and lack of self-consciousness, as well as for 
her dignity and kindness of heart. Elizabeth was 
a firm believer in the virtues of physical exercise 
and had her daughter taught to ride, fence, and 
shoot; but Valerie did not altogether share her love 
of long walks and rides. She had the Wittelsbach 
love of art and literature, was devoted to poetry and 
even as a child wrote verses of some merit. Re- 
membering the mortifications her own lack of edu- 
cation had caused her in her early married life, the 
Empress took special interest in Valerie's education. 
She had her taught Latin and Greek, besides sev- 
eral modern languages, and shared her studies as 
much as possible, often poring over some difficult 
passage in Greek Scripture with her or learning by 
heart the most beautiful verses. The young poetess 

[75] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH Si 

looked upon her mother as her most valuable critic 
and showed her all her poems which filled several 
volumes, deferring always to the Empress' judg- 
ment and finding in her praise her greatest reward. 
She was devoted to both her parents, but as time 
went on became almost a second self to her mother 
— the living token of the reconciliation between 
herself and the Emperor, and a consolation for 
all her loneliness and suffering. 



[76] 



Chapter XII 
The Castle of Gbdollo 




^^OT long after their wedding the Emperor 
and Empress visited an exhibition of 
paintings in Vienna. Franz Joseph was 
anxious to purchase some of them, but 
left the choice entirely to his wife, who went back 
accordingly a few days later with one of her ladies 
and selected twenty-four, every one of which when 
sent to the palace proved to be of horses. Both at 
the Hofburg and at Schonbrunn her chief interest 
was in the imperial stables, where she spent most 
of her mornings trying different mounts. She loved 
exercise of all kinds, but riding was her greatest de- 
light and her skill and daring as a horsewoman were 
remarkable. Authorities in these matters have de- 
clared that she outshone any rider of her own sex, 
for she had a singular, almost hypnotic power over 
horses, and even the most vicious ones would allow 
her to approach and stroke them. Her slender 
wrists were like steel, and there was no horse she 
could not ride when once she had made up her mind 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

to do so. Fear and fatigue were alike unknown to 
her, and she used often to terrify the director of the 
riding-school in Vienna by asking him to send her 
one or two of his wildest specimens to try. A 
cavalry officer once expressed his surprise to the 
Emperor at his allowing the Empress of Austria 
to spend so much time in the stables and make 
companions of jockeys and circus riders. "Ah, 
my young friend/' replied the Emperor kindly, 
"it is evident you do not know women. They 
usually do as they please without waiting for our 
permission." 

Elizabeth never appeared to better advantage 
than when on horseback. Her habit, which seemed 
as if moulded to her figure, was usually dark blue, 
trimmed with fur. She also wore a low round hat 
and heavy riding-gloves, but never a flower or bow or 
anything superfluous except a black fan, which she 
carried in her hand or hung by a strap to her saddle. 
Strangers generally supposed this was to protect her 
complexion, but her friends were well aware that it 
was merely to guard herself from the inevitable pho- 
tographers who pursued her everywhere. " I hate 
being photographed," she once declared: "every 
time in my life that I have been, something dread- 
ful has happened to me." She liked to attend to 
her horses personally and visited them every morn- 
ing, taking sugar and carrots in her pocket for them, 

[78] 



^ CASTLE OF GODOLLO ^ 

sometimes even going into their stalls to pet or rub 
them down. At Schonbrunn she had a room the 
walls of which were completely covered with pictures 
of horses. " Look," she once said to her Greek 
teacher when showing him this room, " all these are 
friends I have lost. Many of them have died for 
me, which is more than I can say of any human 
being. People would far rather have me killed.'* 
She was never so happy as when in the saddle, dash- 
ing through the forests of Austria or the wide Hun- 
garian plains. But these long rides also served 
another purpose. On both sides of the house she 
had relatives whose lives were darkened by the fatal 
inheritance of the Wittelsbachs ; so it was not 
strange that as she grew older her sensitive nature 
should have brooded over the fear of developing the 
family disorder. To banish these terrible fits of de- 
pression she would gallop for hours, insensible to 
weather or physical exhaustion, sometimes drenched 
to the skin, and it was only when she felt her horse 
quiver under her with fatigue that she would slacken 
her pace. 

Immediately after the coronation the Hungarians 
presented to their Queen the castle of Godollo, 
situated in the depths of the forest, not far from 
Budapest, and for many years it was her favor- 
ite residence. Here there was nothing to break 
the peaceful seclusion but the plaintive notes of 

[79] 



IS EMPRESS ELIZABETH & 

the Zingaris' violins. Here she was her own 
mistress, spending long, happy, care-free days. 
She usually rose at four o'clock, and was in the 
saddle from five till eleven, when she breakfasted. 
It was an ideal country for riding, and she be- 
came familiar with every forest pathway for miles 
around, often stopping at some camp of the Czikos 
to chat with these half-savage Bedouins of the 
Hungarian Puszta, in whom she felt the greatest 
interest. She brought them gifts of tobacco, and 
was always welcomed with delight by these strange 
herdsmen. 

But there were gay times also at GodoUb in those 
days, when her husband and children were there 
and the castle was full of guests. Her stag hunts 
were famous, and the walls were covered with tro- 
phies of the chase. " There is a tree at Godollo," 
she once said to a companion, " who is one of my 
best friends. He knows all my inmost thoughts, 
and whenever I go back there I tell him all that 
has happened to me since we parted." 

Wherever she might be her thoughts turned long- 
ingly toward her beloved Hungary, where she was 
happiest, and among whose romantic, impulsive 
people she always felt most at home. All classes 
in Budapest adored their beautiful Queen, who 
wore the national costume of the country and lost 
no opportunity of remaining among them. Her 

[80] 



m CASTLE OF GODOLLO ^ 

courage, gentleness, and open-hearted generosity 
made her universally beloved. She would go about 
among the poorest and vilest quarters of the city, 
helping the suffering and needy, quite unconscious 
of danger or fear. The wretched creatures often 
little suspected who she was, but she was wel- 
comed everywhere as an angel of mercy, and could 
go unharmed where even the police would scarcely 
venture. 

One evening she was riding with a companion 
through the outskirts of Budapest, and was just 
passing a hovel set back a little from the main road 
when they were startled by hearing piercing shrieks 
from within. The voice was that of a woman evi- 
dently in the greatest distress. On the impulse of 
the moment they leaped from their horses, and rush- 
ing to the door and bursting it open, found them- 
selves in a low, dirty room, where a huge ruffian of 
a man was dragging a woman about the floor by her 
long, unbound hair, kicking her vigorously as he 
did so. Without a moment's thought Elizabeth 
dealt him a blow in the face with her heavy hunting- 
crop, which so surprised the fellow that he dropped 
his victim and stared at her in blank amazement. 
Elizabeth's own astonishment was still greater, how- 
ever, when the ill-used woman arose and sprang at 
her like a tiger, overwhelming her at the same time 
with the vilest abuse for presuming to attack her 

6 [81] 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH S 

husband. The Empress burst Into a peal of laugh- 
ter, and taking a gold piece from her pocket she 
handed it to the man, exclaiming : " Beat her, my 
friend. Beat her all she wants ; she deserves it for 
being so loyal to you." 



[8z] 



Chapter XIII 
The Empress in Vienna 



If I f ^HE year 1873 was a memorable one to 
Franz Joseph and Elizabeth. Their 
eldest daughter, Gisela, was married, 
April 20, to Prince Leopold of Bavaria 
in the Church of the Augustins, where the imperial 
pair had celebrated their union nineteen years be- 
fore. The bride was led to the altar by her mother 
and left that same afternoon with her husband for 
Munich. The Viennese overwhelmed the Arch- 
duchess with gifts and entertainments, and the streets 
were lined with crowds eager to witness the depart- 
ure of the young couple. 

A few days afterward, May i, 1873, ^^ Emperor 
and Empress opened the World's Exposition at 
Vienna, an event that was celebrated with all sorts 
of festivities and made the occasion of a perfect 
jubilee. The Exhibition was a great success as well 
as a source of pride to Austria, as it demonstrated 
what the country could accomplish in the way of 
arts and manufactures in a comparatively short 
space of time. Many of the crowned heads of 

[83] 



B EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

Europe came as guests to the capital. The old 
Emperor William and his clever wife Augusta vis- 
ited at the H of burg and Schonbrunn ; Czar Alex- 
ander Second of Russia and King Victor Emmanuel 
of Italy also came, as did the Shah of Persia and 
many others. 

Elizabeth, however, cared little for people of her 
own rank. " Titles mean nothing," she declared ; 
" they are only the trappings with which we try to 
hide our nakedness ; they do not change our real 
selves." Little to her taste as court ceremonies 
were, she bore her part in them with ease and 
dignity and was always the centre of interest and 
admiration wherever she went. Some years before 
the fall of the French Empire, the Austrian sover- 
eigns met Napoleon and Eugenie at Salzburg. The 
French Empress was then at the zenith of her 
beauty, but Elizabeth with her glorious eyes and 
hair and the wonderful charm of her personality 
did not suffer by comparison with the Spaniard 
nor even with younger princesses. 

In 1873 the twenty-fifth anniversary of Franz 
Joseph's accession to the throne was celebrated with 
great rejoicings, the festivities culminating in the 
evening by the triumphal progress of the imperial 
pair with the Crown Prince through the streets 
of Vienna, which were brilliantly illuminated and 
decorated and filled with cheering throngs. But even 

[84] 



^ EMPRESS IN VIENNA ^ 

on this occasion it was evident Elizabeth found it 
an effort to appear in public, and she avoided the 
noise and confusion as much as possible. Her 
growing reserve and dislike of self-display were 
taken as a personal offence by the spectacle-loving 
Viennese and added to her unpopularity. She was 
considered cold and proud and was taxed with heart- 
lessness and indifference, a fact of which she was 
well aware and which only added to her melancholy. 
She adored children, rich and poor alike, and at 
the close of the Vienna Exposition took into her 
service a little Berber boy named Mahmoud, who 
had acted as page in the Cairene house erected in 
the Prater by the Khedive of Egypt and afterward 
presented to the Empress. Mahmoud adored his 
mistress and she was exceedingly kind to him. 
When the climate of Vienna affected his lungs and 
he fell ill with pneumonia, she nursed and tended 
him herself, and he became the favorite playmate 
of the Archduchess Valerie, greatly to the horror of 
the Austrian aristocracy. Patience was not one 
of the Wittelsbach virtues, and so many false and 
cruel reports were circulated about her in Vienna by 
careless tongues that when Elizabeth was informed 
of the indignation she had aroused by her kindness 
to Mahmoud she responded by having the two chil- 
dren photographed together and the picture displayed 
in public. This act of defiance naturally added to 

[85] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

the number of her detractors, and many even began 
to hint that the Empress' restlessness and eccentrici- 
ties were certain signs of approaching insanity. 

But there was still another reason for the Em- 
press' unpopularity in the Austrian capital. Her 
husband's German subjects keenly felt her lack of 
sympathy with them and resented her unconcealed 
preference for Hungary. It was even rumored that 
she intended to bestow all her Austrian possessions 
upon the Magyars, but this was a rank injustice to 
Elizabeth, for throughout the Empire, Austria as 
well as Hungary, there was scarcely a charitable in- 
stitution or cause that she did not aid or support, 
nor a case of suffering and need that she did not 
attempt to relieve. When Austria took possession 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, the Empress 
found a fresh field for her energies in caring for the 
wounded soldiers and providing for the families of 
those who were killed ; and when cholera and small- 
pox broke out in Budapest, she insisted upon ac- 
companying the Emperor, who was obliged to go 
there for the opening of the National Assembly, 
declaring that in time of danger her place was at her 
husband's side. 

In 1879 Franz Joseph and Elizabeth celebrated 

their silver wedding, an occasion not unmixed with 

sadness to them both, as they looked back on the 

trials and disappointments of their married life. 
[86] 



^ EMPRESS IN VIENNA ^ 

They had requested that there should be no pubhc 
observance of the day, and that the sums contributed 
for that purpose should be given to charity. An 
exception to this was made, however, in Vienna, 
where a great ovation had been prepared for the im- 
perial pair. On the spot where the Emperor had 
been attacked by Libeny, the Hungarian, a church 
had been erected to commemorate his fortunate 
escape, and this was to be formally dedicated as part 
of the ceremonies of the day. The city was en fete ^ 
and crowds had gathered to salute the Emperor and 
Empress as they drove to and from the church. 
There was little in their appearance to suggest the 
storms that had shaken their lives, for Franz Joseph 
was still in the prime of his manhood and Elizabeth 
the youngest and most beautiful of grandmothers 
(her eldest daughter Gisela had several children at 
that time). The festivities, which lasted several 
days, concluded on the twenty-seventh of April 
with an historical pageant, arranged by the celebrated 
painter Hans Makart and carried out on the most 
magnificent scale. Every class, institution, and prov- 
ince in the kingdom was represented, and the vari- 
ous groups costumed with historical accuracy, the 
whole procession making a most imposing spectacle 
as it moved slowly along the Ringstrasse amid the 
deafening cheers of the spectators. 

[87] 



Chapter XIV 

Marriage of Crown Prince Rudolf 



B 



OTH Franz Joseph and Elizabeth were 
very proud of their only son, whose win- 
ning ways and kindness of heart had made 
him wonderfully popular with all classes. 
He had inherited his mother's impatience of re^ 
straint as well as her literary and artistic tastes, and, 
like her, cared little for people of his own rank. 
His own intimate circle was composed of poets, art- 
ists, and journalists, and he had an enthusiastic 
friend and teacher in the celebrated naturalist, 
Brehm. According to the custom of Austrian 
princes, he had been required to learn some trade 
and chose that of printing, but he possessed a 
marked talent for writing and published several 
books of real merit. He adored his mother, and 
the relation between them was one of the closest 
confidence and intimacy, but Elizabeth's love for 
her son did not blind her to his faults, and she fully 
realized that he had all his father's youthful suscep- 
tibility and love of pleasure. Both she and the 

Emperor were agreed as to the necessity of his 
[88] 



18 MARRIAGE OF RUDOLF ^ 

marrying early, not only to insure the succession, 
but also because they hoped it would steady the 
rather wild and headstrong young prince. Franz 
Joseph, however, had political advantages most in 
mind in the choice of a wife for his son, while Eliz- 
abeth was chiefly concerned as to his prospects of 
domestic happiness. She felt the importance of his 
marrying some one with sufficient beauty and intel- 
ligence to restrain his somewhat errant fancy and 
win his respect as well as affection. 

There were but few marriageable princesses in 
Europe at that time (Rudolf was then in his twenti- 
eth year), and the Emperor's choice was far from 
satisfactory to Elizabeth, for it fell on the Belgian 
princess Stephanie, a seventeen-year-old girl of very 
ordinary mind and not at all attractive in appear- 
ance. Elizabeth had no liking either for King 
Leopold Second of Belgium or his wife, an Austrian 
archduchess, who played rather an unenviable role 
at her husband's court, and bitterly opposed the 
match ; but the Queen's sister, the Archduchess Eliz- 
abeth (mother of the Queen Regent of Spain and a 
favorite cousin of the Emperor's) brought all her 
influence to bear in her niece's favor, and the Em- 
press' objections were overruled, Rudolf himself, 
meanwhile, seeming to regard the whole afli^air with 
perfect indifference. 

The wedding took place May lo, 1881. All 

[«9] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

through the festivities that preceded the great event 
Elizabeth played her part perfectly as mother of the 
bridegroom, though her cold and distant manner 
toward her future daughter-in-law as well as the 
King and Queen of Belgium was only too evident. 
Part of the ceremonies consisted of a state proces- 
sion through the streets of the capital, and during 
the whole progress she hardly spoke once to Queen 
Henriette, who rode beside her, but sat erect, bow- 
ing continuously in acknowledgment of the cheers 
of the populace, with a look almost of absent- 
mindedness on her lovely face. In the middle of 
the marriage ceremony her self-control gave way 
completely, however, and she burst into a violent 
fit of weeping. This was her last public appearance 
in Vienna. 

Gay, frivolous, and fond of admiration, Stephanie 
was a princess to please the taste of the Viennese. 
Her arrival at court was hailed with delight, and 
when on the third of September, 1883, a daughter 
was born to the young couple, the public enthusiasm 
was a proof of their popularity. A change in the 
relations of Rudolf and his mother after his marriage 
was inevitable. Though he continued to make 
her his confidante, she was not long in discover- 
ing that he was far from happy in his marriage. 
Wretched over this unfortunate state of affairs and 
feeling less at home than ever in the H of burg, she 
[90] 




/^ROW 



OWN PRINCE RUDOLF 



S8 MARRIAGE OF RUDOLF ^ 

now rarely visited Vienna, sometimes spending only 
a few weeks there in the winter. 

She had never liked the Hofburg nor Schbn- 
brunn, where the Emperor always spent the spring 
months, and now determined to have a residence of 
her own somewhere in the neighborhood of the cap- 
ital. The spot chosen was the beautiful park of 
Lainz, hidden from the public gaze by high stone 
walls and further protected by a thick, impenetrable 
hedge surrounding the gardens. During the two 
years that " Waldesruhe," as she called the Schloss, 
was being built it was rigidly guarded from intrusion 
of any kind, and even after it was finished no one 
but the servants and the family were allowed to enter 
the park or gardens. The building itself is in the 
style of the Renaissance, th.^ facade adorned with bal- 
conies and terraces which in the Empress' time were 
always a mass of flowers. A wide marble staircase 
covered with red velvet carpet led to the first floor, 
which contained the apartments of the Emperor and 
Empress, connected by a great salon or reception 
hall. Elizabeth's spacious sleeping chamber was on 
the corner, with two windows to the east and two 
tall ones to the south, giving upon a balcony. The 
bed was placed in the centre of the room, protected 
at the head by a large screen, upon the reverse side 
of which was a painting of the Virgin Mary. A 
figure also representing the Blessed Virgin stood in 

[91] 



Si EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

one corner, holding in her hands a magnificent 
antique rosary. Opposite the bed was an exquisite 
statue of Niobe, the pedestal buried in growing 
plants and lighted with green incandescent lamps so 
arranged that as the Empress lay in bed she could 
see no light in the room but the green glimmer that 
fell on the Niobe. Breakfast was served on the bal- 
cony, which was like a flower garden. Here too in 
later years she placed a favorite work of art, a small 
reproduction of the marble statue of Heine made by 
the Danish sculptor Hasselriis for her villa Achil- 
leon at Corfu. Adjoining her bedchamber and also 
giving upon the balcony was the Empress' study, 
filled with photographs of her family and friends, 
and a picturesque litter of casts, sketches, bronzes, 
souvenirs of travel, and porcelain vases filled with 
flowers. Over the great square writing-table hung 
a striking portrait of her cousin King Ludwig Second 
of Bavaria. A fire was always burning on the wide 
hearth, and the Emperor and Empress used often to 
sit there together in the evenings watching the glow- 
ing logs and talking over the events of the day. 
The guest chambers and apartments of the Arch- 
duchess Marie Valerie were on the floor below, as 
was the Empress' gymnasium. Physical exercise 
was so necessary to her that she always had a room 
fitted up in this way wherever she happened to be 
staying. 
[9^] 



^ MARRIAGE OF RUDOLF m 

Another favorite retreat of Elizabeth's was Mira- 
mar, the Emperor Maximilian's palace, where for 
several years after his death she used to make fre- 
quent visits. Built of the purest white marble, it 
stands on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea, 
and near by is the pavilion used as a residence 
by the Empress Charlotte when she returned from 
Mexico a widow and hopelessly insane. 

At the time Elizabeth was first sent to Corfu to 
recuperate, the beauty of the country made a deep 
impression upon her, and her love for the shores 
of Greece after repeated visits in later years decided 
her to build a villa upon the island, the planning 
and furnishing of which should reflect her own indi- 
vidual taste. Near the idyllic village of Gasturi 
accordingly there rose the masterpiece of architec- 
ture which she called Achilleon. It stands on a 
hill facing the sea, the slopes of which are covered 
with olive and lemon trees and laid out as gardens 
on wide terraces. The house contains one hundred 
and twenty-eight rooms, filled with treasures of 
Greek and Pompeian art, and there are accommoda- 
tions in the stables for fifty horses. All the rooms 
are filled with classic treasures. The Empress' own 
apartments were entirely apart from the rest of the 
building, with a private entrance so that she could 
come and go at will. She used to rise at five and 
after her bath would go for a walk, usually alone, 

[93] 



IS EMPRESS ELIZABETH SS 

with a book under her arm. The mornings were 
devoted to study, the afternoons to long rambles. 
She knew every road for miles about, but loved best 
to explore the steepest and most dangerous moun- 
tain paths, the silent grandeur and beauty of the 
heights seeming to soothe for a time the restless 
cravings of her spirit. At nine she would retire 
after another bath in the marble basin which was 
brought from the Villa Borghese in Rome. Heine's 
Book of Songs was always under her pillow, and 
often she would rise in the middle of the night, 
unable to sleep, and wander about through the dark 
avenues. At Achilleon, as elsewhere, she was most 
anxious to escape observation, and a high wall of 
marble with a screen of olive trees hid the palace 
from the public gaze. It was not people, however, 
that she disliked so much as being the object of 
their curiosity. 

" All I ask of people," she often said, " is that 
they will leave me in peace." 

She was always kind and gracious to the poor, 
and the peasants used to kneel in the dust before 
her when she approached, calling aloud in their 
melodious language, " O Queen of Beauty, may 
God bless thine every step ! " All heads were un- 
covered when she passed, and the children who 
watched for her coming would run to meet her with 
their hands full of blossoming orange and almond 
[94] 



JS MARRIAGE OF RUDOLF ^ 

boughs. On the heights above Achilleon stood a 
monastery where she often used to go and talk 
with the monks. She asked one of them once if 
he ever went to the village. 

" There is always the marketing to do," he an- 
swered. " Man is but human, and the body suffers 
from cold or hunger ; but except for that, what 
should one do in the village ? It is far better and 
more beautiful up here." 

" That is true," said the Empress ; " undoubtedly 
you have chosen the better part." 



[95] 



Chapti 



^er XV 

King Ludwig Second of Bavaria 



n 



^ 



^^HROUGH all her sorrows and troubles 
Elizabeth never lost her love for her 
Bavarian home or for her own family, 

k. with whom she corresponded regularly. 



For many years she was in the habit of spending 
part of every summer at PossenhofFen, revisiting the 
scenes of her childhood and going about among her 
peasant friends, who always spoke of her as " our 
Empress," forgetful of the fact that this title properly 
belonged to the Queen of Prussia. 

The years had brought many sorrows and mis- 
fortunes to Duke Max Joseph and his wife. Their 
oldest son married an actress of doubtful reputation. 
The Princess of Thurn and Taxis early lost her 
husband and oldest child and was left with the bur- 
den of managing the vast family estates. The third 
daughter, Marie, like Elizabeth, was elevated to a 
throne at the age of seventeen, by becoming the 
wife of Francis Second, King of the Two Sicilies ; 
but barely a year later Garibaldi's freelances robbed 
her unworthy husband of his crown and made her 
[96] 



^ KING LUDWIG SECOND ^ 

a queen without a country. A scarcely happier fate 
befell her sister Mathilde, who was married at eigh- 
teen to Count Louis of Trani, a broken-down roue 
who afterward died by his own hand. Neither of 
these Princesses had seen their husbands before 
their marriage. 

Sophie, Duchess d'Alen9on, the youngest of the 
five sisters, was very beautiful and resembled the 
Empress Elizabeth in appearance, though not at all 
in disposition, for those who knew her as a young 
girl describe her as being full of animation and 
vivacity. She became engaged to her cousin Lud- 
wig Second of Bavaria a year after his accession to 
the throne, and the betrothal met with general ap- 
proval. He was a strikingly handsome young man 
of twenty at this time, and so desperately in love 
with his cousin that he had a bust made of her by 
a famous sculptor and placed in his winter garden 
where he could always look at it. Just before the 
wedding was to take place, however, he suddenly 
broke the engagement without a word of prepara- 
tion or explanation, because he suspected that she 
was untrue to him. There is no doubt that the 
Princess was the victim of a deliberate plot to rob 
her of the King's affection, but Ludwig made no 
attempt at reparation of any kind and his behavior 
made a breach between him and Duke Max's family 
which was never healed. 

7 [97] 



13 EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

Ludwig himself, fed by continual flattery and 
admiration and with a morbid idea of his own dig- 
nity, was deeply injured by the supposed faithless- 
ness of his fiancee. In the first transports of his 
rage he seized the bust of the Princess and flung it 
out of the window, dashing it to pieces on the 
stones of the courtyard. Even at the beginning of 
his reign he had shown signs of mental unsound- 
ness, but from this time he began to shun the soci- 
ety of his fellow creatures and lived a solitary life. 
He would have nothing more to do with women, 
and except for a few chosen companions would see 
no one. Even when obliged to receive his ministers, 
he would hide behind a screen. The only excep- 
tion he made was in favor of his cousin Elizabeth, 
with whom he was a great favorite in spite of his 
erratic ways, and who also was devoted to him until 
his death. They were much alike in temperament 
as well as in appearance, and he always looked for- 
ward to her arrival each summer at Feldafing, near 
which was one of his favorite retreats, " Rosen- 
insel," a small island shut in by dense shrubbery 
and lofty trees. In olden times it had been the site 
of a heathen temple which was replaced later by a 
Roman Catholic chapel. The gardens, which were 
laid out by King Maximilian Second, were greatly 
enlarged and beautified by his son Ludwig and are 
said to contain sixteen thousand of the choicest 
[98] 



J8 KING LUDWIG SECOND m 

varieties of roses, the perfume of which is wafted 
far out across the lake. The Hermitage, a small 
villa in the Italian style, and the gardener's cottage 
are now the only buildings left in this wilderness of 
flowers, so overgrown that it is almost impossible to 
approach the little wharf where King Ludwig used 
to land from his yacht Tristan, Here he collected 
all his favorite authors and spent long happy days 
dreaming over them or working in the garden, and 
here too he and Elizabeth would meet and pour out 
their hearts to each other, alone and undisturbed. 

After all, who can say with certainty where human 
reason ends and insanity begins ? "I am not sure," 
the Empress once said, in speaking of Shakespeare's 
Hamlet, " that those persons who are called mad 
are not the really wise ones." King Ludwig's ec- 
centricities became so pronounced, however, that in 
1886 he was forced to resign the government and 
was sent to Schloss Berg on Lake Starnberg under 
the care of a physician. One June evening they 
went out to walk together as usual, and when, after 
waiting in vain for their return, a search was made, 
the bodies of both were found at length at the bot- 
tom of the lake. Elizabeth happened to be staying 
at Feldafing when the catastrophe occurred and was 
deeply affected by the King's tragic death. She 
hastened at once to the castle, and entering the room 
where his lifeless body lay, requested to be left 

[99] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

alone with it. For an hour her attendants waited, 
and at length, alarmed at the delay, ventured to 
enter the apartment, where they found their mis- 
tress stretched upon the floor, apparently lifeless. 
It was only with the greatest difficulty that she was 
restored to consciousness, and when at last she did 
open her eyes, she stared wildly about her for some 
moments, then cried in a shaking voice: " For God*s 
sake, release the King from the mortuary chapel ! 
He is not dead — he is only pretending to be so, 
that he may be left in peace and not tormented any 
longer." 

Ludwig*s body was carried back to Munich, 
where he lay in state, the bier heaped about with 
wreaths and floral offerings, but on the breast of the 
dead King lay a simple spray of jasmine, Elizabeth's 
last gift to her friend and kinsman. 



[loo] 



Chapter XVI 

The Empress' Travels 



'Y'RGED by her love of nature and of new 
scenes as well as by her inborn restless- 
ness, Elizabeth, as is well known, spent a 
Vi:^::^ great part of her time travelling about 
incognito from place to place like any ordinary 
tourist. She never tired of studying strange lands 
and peoples, and the constant change and commu- 
nion with nature calmed her tortured spirit as 
nothing else could. " One should never stay in- 
doors except when absolutely necessary," she de- 
clared, " and our homes should be so ordered as not 
to destroy the illusions we bring in with us." The 
sea had an irresistible attraction for her, and she 
would pace up and down the deck of her yacht for 
hours sometimes, ordering no one to speak to or 
approach her. " The sea is my father confessor," 
she used to say; "it removes all my cares and 
troubles and has taught me all I know." Her 
yacht Miramar, on which she spent so much of her 
time, was elegantly and conveniently fitted up with 
every comfort. On the deck was a large round 

[,oi] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

pavilion of glass commanding a view of the sea in 
all directions, for her use in wet weather, but the 
Empress* favorite spot was the after deck, which 
was shut off from the rest of the yacht with sail 
cloth so that there should be nothing to interfere 
with her outlook over the sea. 

She usually travelled under the name of Countess 
of Hohenembs, her Majesty's thirty-eighth title in 
the Court Calendar. She loved to explore strange, 
out-of-the-way places, and displayed wonderful en- 
thusiasm and endurance as a traveller. Of all lands, 
however, she loved the East the best. Her favorite 
cities were Tunis, Algiers, Cairo, and Alexandria, 
and she was the first European sovereign to visit 
Troy. 

Her talent for languages was remarkable. Besides 
German and Hungarian, she had mastered French, 
English, and Greek, and had a fair knowledge of 
Latin. She never cared to learn Italian, indeed she 
had the greatest dislike to everything pertaining to 
Italy, having been subjected to several outrages at 
the hands of the people of that country. She had 
narrowly escaped death at Trieste in the early 
eighties, when a bomb was thrown into the citadel 
where she was staying. 

Owing to the Empress' reluctance to appear in 

public, her features were not generally known in 

Austria, a fact which led to many absurd situations. 
[102] 



^ THE EMPRESS' TRAVELS £ 

One day when taking the train at Modling she sent 
her servant to order the station-master to have the 
train stopped at a small station near her palace at 
Lainz. Seeing that the train was about to start, she 
called to the guard : " Tell that man in the black 
coat to make haste ! " Whereupon the officer 
bawled out, " Here, hurry up, you ! or else your 
good woman will go off and leave you ! " evidently 
taking the Empress for the horrified servant's wife. 
It was not always easy to preserve her incognito on 
her travels, though she made every effort to do so 
because of her keen enjoyment of the adventures 
which it brought about. 

In her younger days she used to spend much 
time in Scotland and Ireland, where she delighted 
in the hunting. During one of these visits in Ire- 
land the fox she was pursuing sprang over the wall 
of Maynooth College, near which the chase had led 
her, and dashed across the exercise ground where 
the students were sauntering peacefully about. 
Great was their amazement the next moment when 
the wall was also cleared by several hounds and a 
horsewoman on a magnificent hunter, who had evi- 
dently followed the fox through a pond, for she was 
dripping wet. The fox was quickly captured, and 
the rider dismounted and asked to see the head of 
the college, to whom she explained her identity, re- 
questing to be shown to a room where she could 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

change her clothes. No feminine garments were to 
be found, however, in a seminary for young priests 
and she was forced to borrow one of the doctors* 
cassocks. While her clothes were drying she in- 
vited the professors to have tea with her, charmed 
them all with her graciousness, and caused much 
merriment by her comical appearance and lively 
descriptions of her adventures. 

Once while in Amsterdam, where she occasion- 
ally went to be treated by an eminent specialist in 
nervous disorders, she entered a toy shop to buy 
a doll, saying to her companion : 

" I am sure my granddaughter will be delighted 
when she gets this.'' 

The shop-keeper, thinking it impossible that 
this slender, youthful-looking person could be a 
grandmother, made some remark to that effect. 

" Oh, yes, I have four grandchildren," said the 
Empress, "and to prove it I will come again soon 
and buy some toys for the other three. You may 
send them to my daughter, the Princess Gisela in 
Munich." 

The poor shop-keeper was dumfounded and 
humbly apologized for his rudeness. 

"You were not rude," said Elizabeth kindly; 
" on the contrary, you were very flattering.'* 

She was usually regarded as somewhat eccentric 
in Amsterdam, from her habit of always holding a 
[104] 



S THE EMPRESS' TRAVELS ^ 

fan before her face in the street, and once a street 
urchin ran up to her and snatched it away, crying, 
" Let me see your face ! " But in spite of the 
unpleasant experiences which her incognito occa- 
sionally created, she could never be induced to 
abandon it and was much displeased when people 
did not respect her wishes in this matter. When 
one of the servants at a Spanish hotel, where she 
had registered as " Frau Folna of Corfu," addressed 
her as "Your Highness," she retorted sharply, 
" There are no Highnesses in my apartments." 

She would often start off on the spur of the mo- 
ment to see some work of art of which she had heard 
without telling any of her suite where they were 
going. Her Greek teacher. Professor Rhousso 
Rhoussopoulos, relates that on one occasion when 
the Empress was staying at Wiesbaden for the 
baths, he suddenly received orders to get ready to 
accompany herself and the Archduchess Marie 
Valerie on a journey, and not until they reached 
the railway station did he learn that their desti- 
nation was Frankfort-on-the-Main, where Elizabeth 
wanted to see Thorwaldsen's reliefs and Danecker's 
"Ariadne," which were in the Rothschild collection 
there. Luncheon had been ordered for them at 
the station restaurant at Frankfort. The Empress 
v/as in high spirits, and taking her daughter's arm, 
walked up and down, watching the people and 

[105] 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

enjoying the bustle of the station. She was delighted 
that no one recognized her and ate the first part of 
her luncheon with great relish. But when the sec- 
ond course arrived it was specially served on gold 
plate with extra attendants ; evidently her identity 
had been discovered. Instantly her cheerfulness 
vanished and she hastily finished the meal in order 
to escape as soon as possible. There was nothing 
she disliked so much as being stared at. 

As Professor Rhoussopoulos was walking with 
her one day in a North German city, she suddenly 
exclaimed : 

" Look how that woman across the street is star- 
ing at us ! What do you suppose it means ? " 

" Probably it is only a bad habit she has, your 
Majesty/' replied the professor ; but before the 
words were out of his mouth the Empress had 
rushed across the street and the next moment the 
two women were in each other's arms. It was her 
sister, the Countess of Trani, who was almost as 
fond of travelling as Elizabeth herself. 

Wherever she went the Empress was perpetually 
at warfare with the police authorities whose duty it 
was to watch over her safety. She resorted to all 
sorts of devices to elude and mislead them, and 
their task was no easy one. Once when she and 
the Emperor were staying at Mentone, she sent 
for the chief of police there and told him that it 

[.06] 



^ THE EMPRESS' TRAVELS & 

annoyed her exceedingly to be continually followed 
about by detectives and she wished it stopped. The 
officer replied that he was compelled to perform his 
duties, and if it displeased Her Majesty there was 
nothing left for him but to resign his position. 

" No, no ! " said the Empress. " Remain in Men- 
tone, by all means, and devote yourself to protecting 
my husband, for his life is most necessary to his sub- 
jects. As for me, what am I ? A mere stranger and 
far too unimportant to attract any attention." 

An English journalist was glancing over some 
books one day in front of a second-hand bookshop 
in Monza, when the dealer came out and asked 
him to go away, as the lady inside did not wish to 
be followed about, evidently supposing him to be a 
detective. Curious to know who the lady was, he 
cast a searching glance through the window and 
recognized the Empress. Taking out one of his 
cards, he handed it to the dealer with the request 
that he inform his illustrious customer of her mis- 
take. An hour later, as he was strolling through 
the palace grounds, he saw Her Majesty a short dis- 
tance in front of him. Not wishing to arouse her 
suspicions a second time, he was about to turn down 
a side path, when she beckoned him to approach 
and with much dignity and graciousness explained 
to him the annoyance she was subjected to by the 
officiousness of the police, and apologized for the 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH & 

scene at the bookshop. Late the next evening, as 
the journalist entered a well-known restaurant in 
Milan, great was his amazement to find the Empress 
seated at one of the tables quite alone and unat- 
tended. As he took his seat near by, one of the 
waiters came to her and said : 

"It is rather late, signora, to get anything good ; 
almost everything is gone.'* 

" But I am hungry," replied Elizabeth ; " you 
will have to find me something." 

The man disappeared and was back again in a 
moment. " There is just one course left, signora," 
he said, " but it is the best of all. I can recommend 
it, for I have just eaten some of it myself. But it 
is a trifle dear ! " 

"How much does this superior dish cost?" 
asked the Empress, smiling. 

" Eighty centesimi," said the waiter doubtfully. 

Elizabeth laughed aloud. 

" The signora need not laugh," he went on in an 
offended tone ; " most people find it so dear they 
order only a half portion ! " 

The journalist had sat all this time hidden behind 
his newspaper, but the Empress recognized him 
at once and addressing him pleasantly with "Good- 
evening, Herr Journalist," continued to converse 
with him durinor the meal. 

She was extremely fond of Paris and rarely failed 
[io3] 



a§ THE EMPRESS' TRAVELS SS 

to go there when on her European tours, though 
always as Countess of Hohenembs and never as 
Empress of Austria. She would often meet her 
sisters, the Duchess d'Alen9on and the Countess of 
Trani, and go about with them, as she could do 
so there without fear of annoyance. One day she 
took a fancy to ride on an omnibus, but when 
the driver came to collect her fare she gave him 
two pieces of gold, an act of munificence that 
stunned the frugal Parisians and led to her being 
recognized. Annoyed at the curious interest of the 
other passengers, she hastily alighted and took 
refuge in the nearest house, where she waited till 
the crowd had dispersed and then drove back to 
her hotel in a closed carriage with the shades closely 
drawn, vowing it was the last time she would ever 
attempt to ride on an omnibus in a city like Paris. 



[109] 



Chapter XVII 

The Empress' Literary Tastes 




LIZABETH was passionately fond of 
both music and poetry. From her father 
she had acquired a perfect mastery of the 
zither, but she had also a beautiful voice 
and was a piano pupil of Liszt, and often sung and 
played at court charity concerts. Her favorite com- 
posers were Rubinstein, Chopin, and Wagner, to 
the latter of whom she proved a true friend by 
sending him a large sum of money at one of his 
times of greatest need, and after his death she made 
one of her incognito trips to Bayreuth to hear the 
Wagner productions there. 

For art, too, she had the greatest enthusiasm. 
Both Makart and Munkacsy were warm personal 
friends of hers and she would often spend hours in 
their studios. She never went to the theatre in her 
later years, but always manifested great interest in 
the foremost actors and actresses in Austria and 
showed them many kindnesses on various occasions. 
It was in literature, however, and poetry in par- 
ticular, that she found her greatest inspiration and 
[no] 



^ HER LITERARY TASTES m 

distraction. She was never without a book in her 
hand and would sit or wander about for hours so 
absorbed in her reading as to completely forget the 
passage of time, while as for her general knowledge 
competent judges have declared it to be amazing. 
" To converse intelligently with the Empress," said 
Hasenauer, "one should be well versed in history, 
science, and art." 

She translated the whole of Schopenhauer into 
modern Greek and was an earnest student of Rous- 
seau and Voltaire. But her prime favorite in the 
literary world was Heinrich Heine, for whom she 
had the greatest reverence and admiration ; she pos- 
sessed all his works, many of them in manuscript, 
and many touching instances are told of her kind- 
ness to the great poet's family. She had learned to 
love his poems soon after her marriage, in her first 
days of sorrow and disillusionment, and they always 
found a responsive echo in her heart. Anxious that 
his memory should be honored publicly, she inter- 
ested herself in the erection of a monument to him 
in some German city, heading the subscription list 
herself with a large sum. The plan was in a fair 
way to succeed, when a letter arrived from Bismarck 
to the cabinet in Vienna, expressing his surprise that 
the ruler of a friendly neighboring country should 
wish to do public honor to a poet who had insulted 
the HohenzoUerns. As a rule, Franz Joseph and 

[III] 



EMPRESS ELIZABETH 



Elizabeth respected each other*s peculiarities and 
differences of taste, but in this case, on account of 
the Triple Alliance, the Emperor was obliged to 
ask his wife to remove her name from the list, and, 
thanks to this episode, it remains for the future to 
erect a monument to Heine in Germany. But 
Elizabeth was determined not to be thwarted and had 
her revenge, for, learning that the Danish sculptor 
Hasselriis in Rome had already prepared designs 
for a statue of her favorite poet, she commissioned 
him to execute it in marble and had it placed in 
front of her palace at Corfu. Apparently the Ho- 
henzollerns did not resent this, however, for the 
then Emperor of Germany was most attentive to 
her whenever she was travelling in that country. 
He always made a point of calling upon her with 
his wife and is said to have considered her one of 
the cleverest women he ever met. 

There were not many books that she cared for, 
but she loved to read her favorites again and again. 
Heine was the only one of the German poets 
whose works she understood and treasured. Neither 
Goethe nor Schiller appealed to her, nor did the 
modern French poets interest her, although she 
thought highly of Lamartine. In English she 
specially admired Shakespeare and Byron, Shake- 
speare indeed ranking only second to Heine in 
her affections. She made excellent translations of 

[112] 



^ HER LITERARY TASTES ^ 

several of his plays and could repeat whole scenes 
from them by heart. "Hamlet" and "Midsum- 
mer Night's Dream " were her favorites, and she 
had a painting of Titania and her lover with the 
ass's head hanging in each of her palaces. " Our 
illusions are the asses' heads that we all kiss," she 
used to say. 

She wrote charmingly herself, and while on the 
long journeys that consumed so much of her time 
she would send long letters every week to her hus- 
band and children, containing brilliant descriptions 
of her travels, bits of poetry or translations, often 
illustrated with exquisite pen-and-ink or water- 
color sketches. These valuable souvenirs are all 
preserved in the Hofburg, together with what she 
called her " day-book," a sort of diary covering 
many years. 



[^^3] 



Chapter XVIII 

Daily Life of the Empress 



A time went on, the hereditary disease of 
the Wittelsbachs, now known as neuras- 
thenia, which for generations had mani- 
fested itself in one form or another, became 
more and more pronounced in the Empress Eliza- 
beth. Her passion for solitude, her aversion to 
mingling with people, and constant craving for 
change must certainly be regarded as inherited pe- 
culiarities, though she was more ill than was 
generally suspected. A complication of disorders 
together with neuritis made her later years a per- 
petual martyrdom, yet she bore her sufferings with 
a patience and fortitude that her physicians pro- 
nounced almost superhuman. 

It was a bitter sacrifice for her to give up her 
riding, but fortunately she was still able to take the 
walks and climbs that meant so much to her. 
Often, indeed, it was not so much the love of 
exercise as the effort to find relief in physical ex- 
haustion from the sleeplessness that tortured her 
and secure the rest so necessary to her overwrought 
nerves. 
["4] 



S8 HER DAILY LIFE ^ 

Always a remarkably small eater, her tastes were 
extremely simple. For weeks at a time she would 
live on nothing but milk, and even at state banquets 
often took nothing but a slice or two of wheat bread, 
a cup of bouillon, and some fruit. She detested liq- 
uor of any sort, and never tasted it except when the 
physicians insisted upon her drinking a little wine 
for her health. As a rule, she had little respect for 
medical knowledge and much preferred to treat 
herself with her own remedies. She had a morbid 
horror of getting stout. Every day she had herself 
weighed, and if her usual weight increased at all 
she would live on oranges till it was reduced to 
the proper amount, in spite of her physicians' warn- 
ings of the danger of so slender a diet. But al- 
though Elizabeth cared so little for eating, when at 
home she gave much attention to the menus pre- 
sented to her each morning by the chef, which she 
often altered to suit herself No table could be 
served more daintily and artistically than that of 
the Austrian court when the Empress was present. 
She selected the costliest porcelain and glass and had 
gold and silver services for all her palaces, though 
they were rarely used owing to her long absences. 

• Maria Theresa had sixteen children, and her son 
the Emperor Leopold Second seventeen ; so the 
Austrian imperial family is a large one, aside from 
the numbers of foreign princes in Vienna who are 



EMPRESS ELIZABETH 



related to the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. But 
except on one or two state occasions in the course 
of the winter these distant connections rarely saw 
either Franz Joseph or Elizabeth. Absorbed in 
cares of state and caring for little but his shooting 
trips in later years, the Emperor led almost as soli- 
tary a life as his wife. When they were together 
with their children, the Empress always strove to 
make these reunions as happy and cheerful as pos- 
sible, as if to make up in some degree for the family 
life her long absences deprived him of. They would 
spend long cosey evenings on the terraces or by the 
fireside, and Rudolf would often join the party, or, 
if the Emperor were busy, Elizabeth would entertain 
herself with Marie Valerie and some of her ladies- 
in-waiting. The court in general, however, kept 
aloof from her. Her manner was cold and forbid- 
ding to those she did not like, though her intimate 
companions had the deepest love and admiration 
for her and she was worshipped by her servants, 
none of whom was too humble to share her sym- 
pathy and interest. 

One morning in Vienna it was learned that one of 
Elizabeth*s maids had died during the night, and 
very harsh comments were made on the fact of the 
Empress having been seen riding in the Prater on 
that very same afternoon. It was not told, how- 
ever, that she had spent the whole of the previous 
[ii6] 



je HER DAILY LIFE m 

night at the dying woman*s bedside, and it was only 
when death had ended the maid's sufferings that 
the Empress had gone out into the fresh air. 

Nature endowed Elizabeth with great beauty, a 
noble nature, and a good mind ; fate gave her 
wealth and the most exalted position a woman can 
occupy, and she seemed to have been destined for 
a life of ease and happiness. Perfect as she seemed 
in outward appearance, however, her character was 
full of contradictions. She loved nothing so much 
as freedom and solitude, yet when forced to appear 
in public, no princess in Europe could equal her 
for grace and majesty. Simple and economical in 
her own tastes and habits, in many respects she 
had no idea of money, as, for instance, when she 
furnished her cousin Ludwig of Bavaria with enor- 
mous sums to gratify his passion for building pal- 
aces. Her generosity was boundless, and wherever 
she went she scattered gifts and money broadcast. 
She never followed the freaks of fashion, yet her 
slender figure v/as the delight and envy of mo- 
distes. She dressed as simply as any of her at- 
tendants, but whatever she wore it was impossible to 
conceal her inborn dignity and air of distinction. 
Her favorite costume for every-day wear was a short, 
close-fitting skirt with loose waist, and she never 
put on her elaborate court dresses except when ab- 
solutely necessary, though even these always bore 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

the stamp of her individuality. In her later years 
she was rarely seen in anything but black or white ; 
on a few special occasions she would wear light gray 
or lilac, but never bright colors. Her hair never 
lost its beauty, though before her death it began to 
show a trace of silver here and there, — much to her 
annoyance, for she had a horror of growing gray. 
When loosened, it fell far below her knees and en- 
veloped her like a mantle. She used to have it 
brushed for hours every day and often grew impa- 
tient of the trouble it caused her. 

" My hair tires me," she said one day to her 
Greek teacher, running her hands through its waves 
as if to relieve herself of a burden, " it is such a 
weight upon my head." 

*' It is Your Majesty's crown ! " was the courtly 
answer. 

" But not so easy to remove as the other kind of 
a crown ! " she retorted with a melancholy smile. 

Another time she declared impatiently : " I am a 
perfect slave to my hair ! I think I shall have it 
all cut off sometime." 

But remarks such as these were made only in 
moments of annoyance and weariness. As a matter 
of fact, she was very proud of her magnificent 
tresses. It was almost the only sign of vanity she 
ever displayed. 

[118] 




Chapter XIX 
Death of Crown Prince Rudolf 

N the thirty-first of January, 1889, a 
terrible affliction befell the Emperor and 
Empress in the sudden and violent death 
of their only son. The tragedy of May- 
erling is well known in its main points, and hun- 
dreds of different stories have been told concerning 
it, but the real circumstances of the affair are 
wrapped in impenetrable secrecy, and perhaps it is 
just as well if what the King of Belgium wrote to 
his brother, the Count of Flanders, is true. 

" Any report,'* he said, " is better than that the 
real truth should be revealed." 

All that is known with certainty is that the 
Crown Prince was found dead in his bed with a 
frightful wound in his head at his hunting lodge at 
Mayerling, near Vienna, where he had been spend- 
ing a few days. In the same room lay the body 
of a young girl, the Baroness Vetsera, with whom 
he had been in love. It was difficult to believe 
that both had committed suicide, and there are facts 
which seem to indicate that Rudolf may have been 
murdered. The rest is all conjecture. 

[■■9] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

The unfortunate Prince was extremely popular 
with all classes and had many brilliant qualities, but 
after his marriage he developed habits which caused 
some anxiety as to his future. There was one 
person, however, who never lost faith in him, and 
that was his mother. She had wisely and carefully 
prepared him for the position he was to occupy in 
the world, and it was to her training and influence 
that he owed much of his early popularity. All 
Vienna was paralyzed with horror on the cold gray 
morning when word was brought from Mayerling 
of the Crown Prince's death. No one knew just 
what had happened. No details of the affair were 
published and the confusion was indescribable. It 
was thought best to convey the news at once to the 
Empress, though many feared the shock might 
destroy her life or reason. As events proved, how- 
ever, her mind and nerves were stronger than those 
of most people. She seemed stunned at first and 
turned away without speaking, her face drawn and 
colorless, but collecting herself she inquired in a 
dry, unnatural tone where her son was. Then her 
thoughts flew at once to her husband, who as yet 
knew nothing of what had happened. No one had 
the courage to tell him, but while the matter was 
being discussed Elizabeth stepped forward, pale but 
quite self-possessed, and declaring that it was her 
place to break it to the Emperor, left the room 

[120] 



DEATH OF RUDOLF 



immediately. During the terrible days that followed 
the Empress gave ample proof, if it were needed, 
of her true nobility and strength of character. 
With heroic courage she stifled her own feelings to 
soothe and comfort her grief-stricken husband, and 
supported him bravely all through the endless cere- 
monies that accompanied the burial of their unfor- 
tunate child with whom so many hopes had perished. 
Well might Franz Joseph say, as he did when 
expressing his thanks to the people of Vienna for 
their sympathy : " What I owe to the courage 
and devotion of my beloved wife in this time of 
trouble, I can never adequately express, and I 
thank God with all my heart for bestowing on me 
so noble a consort." Ten days later, the imperial 
pair, accompanied by Marie Valerie, left Vienna for 
Hungary. 

Rudolf had been the first prince of the reigning 
house to give promise of being a really constitu- 
tional monarch. He wrote and spoke the Hunga- 
rian language like a native, was thoroughly familiar 
with all parts of the country, and well liked by 
both the people and the aristocracy. In his death 
Hungary suffered an irreparable loss, and through- 
out the kingdom there was genuine grief over his 
tragic fate, while the depth of public sympathy for the 
afflicted parents was shown in the warmth of the recep- 
tion they received in Budapest. In a conversation 

[121] 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

with Dr. Christomanos some years before her death 
Elizabeth declared : "In every human life there 
is a moment when one dies inwardly and that need 
not necessarily be the time when death actually 
takes place." This moment to her was when they 
brought her the news of her scon's death. She was 
never the same afterward. At the time of the ca- 
tastrophe she had shown the courage of a heroine, 
but after her wonderful self-control had given way, 
the reaction was terrible and her despair heart- 
breaking. " I have no longer the strength to live 
nor the desire to die/' she said. It was reported 
in Berlin that her reason was destroved, nor would 
it have been surprising if this had been the case 
after such a shock. Of course it was not true, but 
she did begin to develop symptoms of a serious 
heart trouble from which she suffered until her 
death. She never wished to see the Crown Princess 
Stephanie again, nor could she endure the presence 
of the little Archduchess Elizabeth, the grand- 
child who had inherited her father's nature with the 
features of a mother to whose behavior the Em- 
press attributed the changes in Rudolfs way of 
life and his tragic fate. She shrank from contact 
with people more and more and often wounded 
her husband and children by her craving for soli- 
tude. Even her favorite palace of Lainz failed to 

attract her for more than a few weeks, while at 
[122] 




E 



M PRESS ELIZABETH 
IK later years 



13 DEATH OF RUDOLF 8S 

Godolio the roses drooped and faded and the 
grass grew thick upon her once-loved bridle 
paths. 

On the Christmas Eve following the death of the 
Crown Prince, her mother's fifty-second birthday, 
the Archduchess Marie Valerie was betrothed to 
her cousin Franz Salvator, Duke of Tuscany, an 
event that was a cause of happiness and satisfaction 
to all concerned. Next to her parents' blessing 
she was anxious to have that of her grandmother, 
and the day after Christmas accordingly she left for 
Munich, accompanied by her mother and her lover. 
Duke Max had died in 1888, shortly after the dia- 
mond wedding celebration at Possenhoffen, but the 
Duchess Ludovica, though bowed with age and 
many sorrows, had lost none of her mental acute- 
ness and the meeting between the old lady and her 
daughter and granddaughter was most touching. 
From there they went to Wiesbaden and Heidel- 
berg, where they spent the spring months. As 
they were returning to Vienna, they narrowly es- 
caped death by the derailing of the train near 
Frankfort. Several of the coaches were overturned 
and crushed, but none of the imperial party, strange 
to say, was injured. Scarcely had the Empress 
reached home when she was called to Regensburg 
by the sudden death there of her eldest sister, 
Helene of Thurn and Taxis, and after the funeral 

[1^3] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

she went again to Munich to comfort her grief- 
stricken mother. 

The marriage of Marie Valerie and Franz Sal- 
vator that summer was one of the few happy events 
of Elizabeth*s later life. On that occasion she laid 
aside her mourning for a pale gray silk gown, and 
for the first time since Rudolfs death made an ef- 
fort to smile and appear cheerful. But the brief 
gleam soon vanished. The Archduchess had been 
the one bright spot in her life, and even though she 
was to remain in the country as the wife of an Aus- 
trian prince, Elizabeth realized that the relations 
between them could never be the same again. She 
had lost her dearest companion. 

On the twenty-fifth of January, 1892, her burden 
of sorrow was increased by the death of her mother, 
and she retired to Achilleon, where she had had a 
monument erected to her unfortunate son that she 
might be alone with memories of her beloved dead. 
Even her attendants saw her for only a short time 
each day, and she lived mostly in a world of dreams. 
Her favorite poets still afforded her solace and di- 
version, but she grew to care less for books than for 
the solitude, which she peopled with creations of her 
own fancy. Her reader sometimes tried to interest 
her in new authors, but her thoughts would soon 
wander and her absent expression prove the use- 

lessness of such attempts. Only Shakespeare or 

[124] 



m DEATH OF RUDOLF ^ 

Heine had power to fix her attention, and she would 
often interrupt her reading to recite favorite verses 
or passages to herself. 

The only court ceremony at which the Empress 
appeared after the death of her son was on the 
occasion of the visit of the present Czar and Czar- 
ina of Russia to Vienna. Her presence at the state 
reception given in their honor excited even more 
interest and curiosity than did that of the young 
Czarina herself, and all eyes were fixed upon her 
as she entered on the arm of the Russian Emperor, 
smiling and bowing graciously to those about her. 
She was dressed in black, as usual, but looked 
twenty years younger than any of her contem- 
poraries. In spite of all her sorrows and sufferings 
she could still be truthfully called the most beauti- 
ful woman at her court. But her thoughts were 
continually straying from her guests and from the 
brilliant scene about her. 

" There often seems to be a thick veil between 
me and the world, as if I were masquerading in 
the costume of an Empress/* she once remarked. 
" When I am with people I only show the part of 
me that we have in common, and they are sur- 
prised that I am so much like them when I talk 
about the weather and the price of candy. It is 
like taking a dress out of the wardrobe and putting 
it on for certain occasions." 

[125] 



S EMPRESS ELIZABETH £ 

In 1896 Hungary celebrated her thousandth anni- 
versary. Elizabeth was even more miserable than 
usual at the time, and did not feel that she could 
be present, but it was urged that her absence would 
cast a shadow over the festivities, and, ill as she was 
both in body and mind, she finally was persuaded 
and appeared beside her husband on the throne. 
Dressed all in black, with a long veil worn Hun- 
garian fashion over her hair, she sat pale and 
motionless as a statue, her long eyelashes drooping 
and an expression of unspeakable sadness on her 
lovely face. Not a muscle moved as the speaker 
began his address of welcome. She seemed nei- 
ther to see nor hear until he spoke the word 
" Elizabeth " and a mighty shout went up from 
the whole assembly that seemed to shake the 
marble walls of the throne room. Then the ma- 
jestic head was lowered slightly, almost imper- 
ceptibly, but with wonderful grace and charm in 
acknowledgment of this tribute. Again the cheers 
rose louder than before and lasted several minutes, 
even the highest nobles of the kingdom waving 
their tufted kalpaks high in the air. 

The Queen's head sank, her deadly pallor giving 

place to a faint flush. Her eyes opened wide with 

a flash of their old brilliancy, and a tear rolled slowly 

down her cheek. It was plain that the affection 

between Elizabeth and her Hungarian subjects had 
[.z6] 



S8 DEATH OF RUDOLF ^ 

undergone no change. The speaker went on with 
his address, the flush slowly faded from her cheeks, 
and soon she sat beside the Emperor, a Mater 
Dolorosa once more. It was her last visit to Hun- 
gary and her last appearance on the throne. 



[127] 



Chapter XX 
Death of the Empress 



m 



'^^HE Empress Elizabeth had no fear of 
death, though the thought of it was often 
in her mind. " I am ready to die," she 
used to say ; " all I ask is that I may not 



live to suffer." She had a presentiment that she 
was to die an unnatural death and believed it would 
be by drowning. Sometimes when walking along 
the shore or on the deck of her yacht she would 
say : " The sea will have me some day ; I know I 
belong to it." Her forebodings were destined to 
be fulfilled, though in a manner that neither she 
nor any one else could have foreseen, for the life 
that began so like a summer idyl ended in a 
tragedy. 

In the Spring of 1897 a terrible fate befell her 
sister Sophie while assisting at a charity bazar held 
in Paris by the ladies of the French aristocracy. 
About four o'clock in the afternoon of the fourth 
of May the lamp of a cinematograph exploded, set- 
ting fire to some draperies. The hall was a flimsily 
built structure, and the flames spread with such 
[128] 



m DEATH OF THE EMPRESS ^ 

rapidity that in a few moments the whole place was 
a sea of fire and the greater part of those present 
were unable to escape. One hundred and thirty- 
people perished in this frightful disaster, among 
them the Duchess d'Alen^on, Ludwig of Bavaria's 
former fiancee. It was known that she must have 
perished, for her wedding ring was found among 
the ruins soon after the conflagration, though it was 
not till some days later that her body was found 
and identified. 

The Queen of Naples and Mathilde of Trani 
Vy^ere now Elizabeth's only surviving sisters, and of 
these the latter was her favorite. They had many 
traits in common, particularly their aversion to 
society and their love of travel. The Countess of 
Trani, who spent most of her time at hotels and 
watering-places, usually went by the modest title of 
" Fraulein Nelly Schmidt." The last Christmas of 
Elizabeth's life the two sisters spent together in 
Paris, but an acute attack of neuritis forced the 
Empress to hasten southward, and taking her yacht 
Miramar at Marseilles, they went to San Remo. 
Here they stayed for two months, leaving on the 
first of March for Territet in Switzerland, where 
they parted never to meet again. 

Elizabeth was fond of returning to familiar places, 
and Lake Geneva was one of her favorite spots. 
From Territet she used to go every day by rail to 
9 [129] 



ae EMPRESS ELIZABETH gl 

Glion and from there on foot to Mont de Caux, 
accompanied only by one of her ladies or her 
reader, a young man named Frederick Barker. 

After a six weeks' stay in Switzerland she returned 
to Vienna and went with the Emperor to Lainz. 
Never had her mind appeared so clouded as now. 
The veil of melancholia had settled over her thicker 
and heavier than ever. Her glance was restless, 
there was an unspeakable weariness in her expres- 
sion, and hard and bitter lines had appeared about 
her mouth. Constant suffering made life a torment 
to her and she could find no rest day or night. 

Early in August she went as usual with her hus- 
band and Valerie's family to Ischl to celebrate the 
Emperor's birthday. It was the only day in the 
year on which she laid aside her mourning, and 
the imperial pair usually went together to church. 
This time, however, she left earlier and went to 
Mannheim to take some special massage treatment 
recommended by her physicians. Her health im- 
proved so much that she was able to eat and sleep 
again and to resume her excursions about the 
neighborhood, though still too weak to take the 
long walks and climbs she was so fond of. 

On the twenty-ninth of August she went back to 

Switzerland, this time by special train to Mont de 

Caux, where she could be more quiet than at Ter- 

ritet. She seemed unusually well, and those who 
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^ DEATH OF THE EMPRESS gS 

met the slender black-robed foreign lady, chatting 
familiarly with her one companion, little surmised 
that she was the sovereign of one of the greatest 
powers of Europe and ruler over more than forty 
million people. In a letter to the Emperor written 
at this time she expressed regret that he was not 
sharing the peace and pleasure of her stay here and 
urged him to join her, declaring that she was feeling 
so much better she hoped to be present at his 
approaching jubilee, the fiftieth anniversary of his 
accession to the throne. 

On the ninth of September she suddenly decided 
to make a visit to Pregny, a beautiful villa on the 
shores of Lake Geneva, that had once belonged to 
Joseph Bonaparte, but is now in the possession 
of the Rothschild family. The Baroness Adolph 
Rothschild had been very kind to the Queen of 
Naples in her days of misfortune, and Elizabeth 
was anxious to show her some attention. 

She had gone for a stroll the preceding afternoon 
in the neighborhood of Territet with her reader, 
Mr. Barker, who had taken with him a basket of 
fruit for her refreshment. Seating herself on some 
moss-grown rocks, the Empress peeled a peach, half 
of which she offered to her companion. Just as 
she was in the act of handing it to him, a huge 
raven flew down from a tree near by, flapping its 
wings almost in her face and knocking the peach 

[■3'] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

from her hand. Remembering the famous legend 
of the raven, which is always said to appear to 
the Hapsburgs as a forerunner of misfortune, the 
startled reader sprang to his feet in alarm and 
begged her to abandon the trip to Geneva. 

" I am not afraid, my friend/* replied Elizabeth. 
" We must all meet our fate sooner or later, and 
whatever is destined to happen will happen. Noth- 
ing we can do will alter it. You know I am a 
fatalist." 

The next day she went to Pregny, as she had 
planned, accompanied only by her Hungarian lady- 
in-waiting, the Countess Sztaray. She was in a re- 
markably cheerful mood, most gracious and friendly 
with the Baroness and much pleased with her visit. 
Late in the afternoon she arrived at the Hotel Beau- 
rivage, where she was in the habit of staying. Every 
precaution had been taken as usual to preserve her 
incognito, though the servants, remembering her 
from former visits, were no doubt v/ell aware of 
her identity. On her first arrival in Switzerland 
the police of the canton had been charged to watch 
over her safety, but she had wished as usual to be 
spared their espionage and left to go her own way. 

At noon on the tenth of September, 1898, she 

left the hotel with her lady-in-waiting to take the 

steamer to Mont de Caux. They were a little late, 

and the Countess Sztaray hurried on in advance of 

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JS DEATH OF THE EMPRESS ^ 

her mistress to signal the captain to wait for them. 
Just at that moment a man arose from a bench on 
the quay where he had been sitting as they passed. 
It was the Italian Luigi Luccheni, a dangerous 
anarchist on whom the Swiss authorities had been 
warned to keep a watchful eye. With one bound 
he flung himself upon the Empress and plunged a 
dagger into her breast. The Countess was unaware 
that anything had happened, but turning just in 
time to see her mistress stagger, ran and caught her 
in her arms. 

Is Your Majesty ill ? " she asked in alarm. 
I do not know," said Elizabeth. 
Will Your Majesty take my arm ? " 
"Thank you. I do not think I need it." 
Though ghastly pale, she walked to the steamer 
without assistance, crossed the gang-plank, and then 
fell fainting to the deck. The steamer started, and 
the Countess Sztaray with some of the women on 
board endeavored to restore her to consciousness. 
No one suspected that she had been wounded until 
the Countess, loosening her dress to give her more 
air, discovered stains of blood on her clothing. 
Just then Elizabeth opened her eyes and in a clear, 
distinct voice asked, " What has happened ? " then 
sank again into unconsciousness. Now thoroughly 
alarmed, the Countess informed the captain of her 
mistress' identity, and the boat was turned back at 

[i33] 



cc 



cc 



13 EMPRESS ELIZABETH 



once to Geneva, where Elizabeth was carried on a 
stretcher to the hotel and laid upon her bed. Three 
physicians who happened to be staying there at the 
time were hastily summoned and did all in their 
power to revive her, but in vain : about three o'clock 
she gave one or two deep sighs and passed away 
quietly and painlessly, as she had so often expressed 
a wish to do. 

So cold-blooded and unprovoked an assault in 
broad daylight and in the public street of a large 
city was one of the most shocking crimes of modern 
times and aroused the horror and indignation of 
the whole civilized world. Elizabeth of Austro- 
Hungary had no enemies. She had exerted no in- 
fluence in politics, directly or indirectly, nor was 
she interested in state affairs. As her grief-stricken 
husband said of her, " she had done much good and 
never harmed a human being." 

The Empress' salon in the hotel was quickly 
transformed into a mortuary chapel. The walls 
were hung with black, tall candles placed about 
the coffin, at the foot of which knelt monks re- 
citing prayers for the dead, and over the bier fell a 
purple velvet pall, in the corner of which some young 
Swiss girls had embroidered the words ^^ Repose en 
faixT Elizabeth was dressed as she had been in 
life, in black, her hands folded over a rosary and an 
ivory crucifix. The beautiful features were not 
[^34] 



m DEATH OF THE EMPRESS ^ 

altered, but had changed their look of sufferhig to 
an expression of wonderful majesty and peace. 

On the evening of the eleventh of September a 
special train bearing her remains left Geneva and 
passed slowly through Switzerland and Austria amid 
the tolling of bells, and was met at every stop by 
sorrowing throngs eager to pay a last tribute to the 
dead Empress. 

The Emperor was overwhelmed with messages of 
sympathy from all parts of the globe. Flowers and 
funeral wreaths came from high and low alike in 
every land that she had visited. Even China and 
the Transvaal sent offerings to lay upon the Em- 
press' coffin. From Cairo came a wreath made of 
desert blooms, hundreds of Jericho roses, the old 
Christian emblem of the resurrection, and lotus 
blossoms, symbolic of eternity. 

Her death made almost as deep an impression in 
most of the foreign capitals as in Vienna, where for 
years she had been so little seen that her Austrian 
subjects had almost forgotten how she looked, and 
her assassination aroused less sorrow than rage 
against the wretch who could have slain a defence- 
less woman. 

In Hungary, however, the public mourning was 
deep and profound. Every flag was at half-mast 
and the streets were full of sobbing men and women. 
The great autumn manoeuvres were abandoned, and 

[■35] 



m EMPRESS ELIZABETH m 

it was decreed that her biography should be recorded 
in the national archives, so that her memory might 
be forever preserved in the history of the country. 

The Empress Elizabeth's personal fortune was a 
large one. Her jewels alone — presents from Franz 
Joseph and other royal personages — were valued at 
four million gulden. Her will was made at Buda- 
pest in 1896. It was very short and written in her 
own hand. Her palace at Lainz was bequeathed to 
her daughter Valerie ; Achilleon, in Corfu, to the 
elder, Gisela. All her servants and ladies-in-waiting 
received legacies, and a number of old friends were 
also remembered. To her old reader and com- 
panion, Ida von Ferenczy, who had been with her 
for thirty years, she left an annuity, besides a con- 
siderable sum of money and a life residence in the 
imperial palace. 

In earlier days Elizabeth had expressed a wish to 
be buried at Godollb, then her favorite residence, 
but in her will she mentioned Achilleon as her 
chosen place of burial. Her desire was not ful- 
filled, however. Indulgent as Franz Joseph had been 
toward his wife's eccentricities during her lifetime, 
he was not willing that her hatred of convention- 
ality should be exhibited in her death, and deter- 
mined that her body should be laid to rest with those 
of former Empresses and members of his family. 
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S DEATH OF THE EMPRESS £ 

In the heart of Vienna there stands an insignifi- 
cant-looking chapel belonging to the Capuchins. 
Above a side door are the words " Imperial Vaults," 
and a flight of well-worn steps leads down into the 
dim burial-place of the royal race of Hapsburg. It 
was into this chamber that the great Maria Theresa 
used to force her gay young daughters to descend 
to meditate on the perishability of all earthly great- 
ness, and here she herself would spend hours beside 
the tomb of her husband. At the end of a cross 
passage stands the tomb of the murdered Empress, 
between that of her brother-in-law, the murdered 
Emperor of Mexico, and her son Rudolf, who also 
met with a violent end. 

In life she had shunned all religious observances; 
now masses are said day and night for the repose of 
her soul. Every morning the gates of the crypt 
are opened, and she who in life so loved solitude 
and seclusion is a mark for the gaze of hundreds of 
curious sightseers. 

How much more fitting a place of rest for the 
nature-loving Empress the sunny shores of her Greek 
island would have been than the gloomy burial 
chamber of the Capuchins! How much finer a 
requiem the sighing of winds and waters than the 
chantings of vestured priests ! 

To the world in general Elizabeth of Austria 
and Hungary will be little remembered as the 

[137] 



^ EMPRESS ELIZABETH ^ 

queenly sovereign in all the insignia of her lofty rank, 
but rather as the beautiful and unfortunate daugh- 
ter of the Wittelsbachs, following her solitary way 
through life, her lonely spirit ever seeking rest and 
peace in vain. Terrible as it seemed to die by the 
hand of an assassin in a foreign country, far from 
all she loved, the dagger of Luccheni was but the 
instrument of fate, and death came to her almost as 
a friend. She died, as she had often wished to die, 
swiftly and painlessly and under the open sky. Who 
shall say that her last earthly breath was not a sigh 
of thankfulness and peace ? 



[138] 



itppeittrtv 



The following is a chronological statement of important 
events connected with the life of Elizabeth, Empress of 
Austria : 

837 Birth of Elizabeth. 

853 Betrothal to Franz Joseph. 

854 Marriage. 
856 Visit to Austrian Alps. 

855 Birth of Sophie Dorothea. 

856 Birth of second daughter, Gisela. 

858 Birth of Crown Prince Rudolf. 

859 Sardinian War. 
866 Estrangement of Emperor and Empress. 

866 War with Prussia. 

867 Elizabeth Crowned Queen of Hungary. 

868 Birth of Marie Valerie. 
878 War with Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
881 Marriage of Prince Rudolf. 
889 Death of Prince Rudolf. 

896 Hungary Celebrated Thousandth Anniversary. 

898 Elizabeth Killed by an Assassin. 



[139] 



